All You Did Was Save My Life
by Eyes.Open.1901
Summary: COMPLETE -- Love and the unbelievable places it can take you--You Always Have Been Sequel.
1. Living Room Policy

**Summary: ** Love and the unbelievable places it can take you--You Always Have Been Sequel.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own SoN or anything related. I only own my original characters and storylines.

**Rating:** T

If you haven't read _**You Always Have Been**_, I suggest you read it first as the sequel will make much more sense if you do.

_**Flashbacks**__ are in italics (besides the one chorus of a song which is easily recognizable as a song)._

Read and review as it will keep me inspired to keep going.

_All You Did Was Save My Life_

_Chapter 1 – Living Room Policy_

**Ashley's POV**

"Casey, what are you doing!' I yelled at the blonde as she didn't hit the right note at the beginning of the chorus... for the fifth time. "Do you need to take a break?" I asked, pushing the intercom button again as the blonde looked like she was getting more than a little bit frustrated.

"No, I got this..." She barked back, "Roll it again from the verse before the chorus..."

_But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts  
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers  
Dreaming bout the day when you'll wake up and find  
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time_

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you  
Been here all along so why can't you see?  
You belong with me--_

_  
_"Ugh! This is impossible... why can't you pick another melody that actually goes with my voice."

"It does go with your voice, you just aren't hitting the right chord. Try it again... you'll get it."

"No, I've tried six times...I'm done. Change it and then I'll try again." She barked, throwing off her headphones and walking out of the recording booth into the studio.

"You know what Casey, if you aren't going to be reasonable and work with me here, I can't do anything for you..." I fumed, throwing my arms up in the air in frustration.

"I think you will because you know Devon will back me no matter what." She hissed back with unappreciated attitude.

Devon was my boss at the label, and he personally found Casey so whenever it came to her, she got her own way. It was completely impossible to work with the nineteen year old as not only did she have a rotten attitude, she knew she had a power over Devon which made it worse. No other producers would work with her so Devon stuck me with her, since I was one of the newer additions.

"Devon will not continue to back you if you don't come up with results, which at this point, doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon." I ordered, getting even more fed up with her and getting on my last nerve. "You know what, fine. That's it for today, come back tomorrow for your session. I don't want to deal with you right now." I said, waving her off as I exit the studio room and begin to walk out.

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Thirty minutes after pulling out of the studio parking lot, I made my way into my driveway, noticing Alexis' car parked on the far side of it.

Alexis and I had moved down to Los Angeles shortly after both of us graduated from DePaul. We got an average sized three bedroom apartment, one bedroom for each of us and then we turned the other one into a studio for both of us to play our music. Our band had broken up, but we weren't overly serious so we knew it'd happen eventually.

Spencer made her way down her for her final year anyways as she landed an internship at this small movie company. She transferred to UCLA before leaving Chicago.

"Hey Aly! I'm home." I yell, closing the door behind me and tossing my keys on the counter as I make my way into the living room without a response. "Aly?--Oh my god, dude!"

"Ashley, you're home... er, early!" Aly screamed, falling off the couch and covering herself up as much as possible.

"Dude, we established the 'no living room' policy for a reason..." I squirmed, turning around so Aly could throw back on her clothes. "Your bedroom is like _right_ there." I point over the right, just metres away from the couch.

"Ash..."

"How are you doing this lovely afternoon, Hayes?" I awkwardly waved, still facing the opposite direction of both of them. "Shouldn't you be scoring baskets at practice instead of scoring with my roomie?"

"Sorry Ash, we didn't think you'd be home so soon." His low voice replied as I heard more rustling behind me, which I could only assume were his pants being pulled back on. "Practice was this morning... Coach let us off for the rest of the day."

"Yeah and the Clippers don't have a game until Friday... I thought you were going to go pick up Spencer?" Aly asked, walking in front of me so I knew it was finally clear.

"Yeah... it's only like two o'clock. It's Tuesday, she's not done until four..." I turn to see an awkwardly looking Jordan sitting on the couch.

Jordan Hayes, Aly's recently new boyfriend. He's a born and bred California kid, but you wouldn't know it. He was tall, blonde and handsome with a pretty well toned body from what I had seen. He got drafted this summer to the Los Angeles Clippers. He and Aly started dating a few months ago after we moved here. It's your typical love story... Aly was out for a jog and tripped, and wouldn't you know it, but her knight and shining armour is there to pick her up. I also gagged when she got back and told me.

"Yes, well that makes more sense why we got caught." Jordan laughed, finally getting off the couch and making his way over to the both of us. "Well done, Aly." He joked, kissing her on the shoulder as he threw his arms around her waist.

"Hey, it's not like we haven't walked in on Ash and Spence doing the deed on that couch."

"Hence the 'no living room' policy... see it works both ways." I grinned, shaking my head as I remembered when we got caught, so much worse than what I had just walked in on.

"_Spencer," I groaned as she pushed me onto the couch._

_I leaned forward, grabbing her by the waist and pulled her down on top of me, kissing her hard. I felt her tongue briefly in my mouth before she pushed herself away from me. _

"_You're so beautiful, Ashley..." She whispered, breaking a small smile as she continued to gaze into my eyes. "I could get lost in you forever."_

"_I could too..." I mumbled as I cupped the back of her neck, bringing her back down to me and kissing her passionately again. _

_I let out another moan as she slid her mouth down my neck, leaving wet kisses all over as her hand pulled my one leg over her hip, causing my back to arch and my breath to hitch. _

_She started to grind herself into me and I could feel her metal belt buckle sliding against me, making me realize that we both still had our pants on. _

_All of our clothes were quickly tossed aside out of heated passion as Spencer straddled me completely naked on the couch. _

"_I want you so badly right now..." Spencer husked, finding my ear and tugged at it with her teeth as she began grinding into me even harder, eliciting another moan from my mouth._

"_Spencer," I moaned, as she found my eyes again and stroked my face and smiled, knowing that I was giving her permission. _

_She slowly started making her way down my body, sucking, nibbling and kissing everywhere, taking time at each spot to savour the taste. I could feel her mouth on my abs as she parted my legs with her hands. _

"_Oh my god, my EYES!" A high pitched girly scream erupted from behind us. _

_With Spencer on top of me, I couldn't see who it was, but Spencer popped her head up and then immediately peered back at me and whispered, "Alexis..."_

"_Crap." I whispered back as Spencer leaned down on me so she was covered. _

"_H-hey Ashley..." I heard Alexis' voice mumble quietly. "I'm assuming you're underneath Spencer right now so... er, Jordan and I are just going to back away right now and um... come back in like five minutes so you put some... clothes on."_

"_Thanks Aly..." I replied, raising my hand above the couch so she could see me wave, as I glanced back at Spencer who was giggling and blushing slightly. "Sorry babe..." I whispered and kissed her nose. _

"Ash, you still in there?" Alexis asked, waving her hands vigorously in front of my face as I stood there with a blank stare, watching Alexis' mouth move more but unable to pay attention to the actual words coming out.

"Sorry, Aly, what did you say?" I asked, shaking my head and shaking out my disorientation.

"We are going to get some Pink Berry... did you want to come with us before you have to pick up Spencer?"

"Sure, although eating after what I just saw probably isn't the best idea." I winked at the brunette as Jordan just shook his head at me and laughed as I grabbed my car keys and closed the door behind the three of us.

--------------------------------

**Spencer's POV**

My professor let us go from my last class a bit early so I had a little while before Ashley would be here to pick me up. The last class of the day was always brutal, as it dragged on the longest and Tuesday's were even worse since they were my latest day.

A few of my friends were in the class though, so I caught up with them afterwards and talked with them as I waited.

As I see a black Porsche pull up in front of the school, I push carefully past my friends and begin walking towards it, knowing exactly who the owner is, a smile wipes my face as I'm running towards the car.

"Hey sexy, you looking for a ride?"

I shook my head at the brunette, as she sat there crinkling her nose at me trying to be smart. I jumped in the car and was quickly met with her lips on mine.

"I missed you." She mumbled between kisses as I gripped her waist and pulled her closer to me so she was pretty much in my lap.

"Me too... Tuesday's are too long." I agreed as Ashley made her way completely over me so she was now straddling me.

I moaned as I felt her hands creep under my jeans, making me having to arch my back and apply more pressure into her body.

"Oh god Ashley... we c-can't... not h-here." I stuttered out, continuing to arch my back into her as her hand kept creeping lower and lower. "W-we're in the parking lot..."

"Mmm... so?" She smiled as she continued to kiss me passionately, her tongue now hot and persistent in my mouth.

"Ashley."

"Awe, Spencer... you're no fun." She joked, poking me in the sides and making me flinch as she brought her hands back up out of my jeans. "Just kidding, I know we'll finish this back at my place."

"Oh do you now?"

"Mhmm, especially since Aly won't bother us. She owes me since I walked in on her and Jordan on the couch earlier today."

"What? What about the 'no living room' policy?"

The brunette smiled and kissed me nose. "Exactly why she owes us."

"Hmm, well as long as I can do some school work before..." I said and Ashley gave me a huge pout and tugged on my shirt a little. "Or I guess after too works..."

"Yay!" Ashley screamed, smiling and jumping back into the driver's seat and starting the car, obviously eager to get back home as she put the car into gear.

--------------------------------

We quickly found ourselves back at Ashley's place, her speeding just a little bit too fast for my taste to get back faster. Alexis wasn't there, just like Ashley said as we made our way further into the house and into her room.

As soon as I dropped my bag, I tackled the unsuspecting brunette onto her bed with me falling on top of her when we landed. She rolled over with a shocked expression on her face as I sat there straddling her hips, smiling at her smugly.

"You still sure I'm no fun?" I hiss at her playfully, as I start to lean down closer to her, trying to tease her as I have the upper hand in our positions.

"I don't know... let's see." Ashley replied, raising her eyebrows up and down at me, before throwing me off guard and tossing me on my back. "Hmm, how about now?"

"Hey, no fair!"

Her hands gripped the back of my neck as she brought my face up to hers to kiss her hard. As she hovered over top of me, my hands slide down her back, digging into her soft skin as our mouths continually melted together.

Ashley abruptly pulled back, dropping her head and gaze from me. I cupped her face gently and brought her face back up, revealing a surprisingly huge grin on her face.

"What?" I asked, crooking one eyebrow up as the brunette continued to stare at me, smiling like a buffoon.

"I don't think you realize how easily you make me smile, Spence." She whispered and pulled a stray hair out of my eyes and placed it behind my ear. "How _happy_ you make me..."

"Ash..."

"No, Spence... I mean it, you're the one I want next to me when my dreams come true and you're the one I want next to me even if they don't. As long as I have you... nothing else matters."

"Ashley... I-I don't know what to say."

"Just say you love me."

"Of course I love you Ashley, with all of my heart."

"Then that's all I need to hear..."

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A/N: So there it is...the opening chapter to the sequel. Let me know what you guys think and if it's worth it that I continue with it.

Song used in this chapter was "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift.

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	2. A Friendly Face

Thank you everyone who checked out the first chapter and reviewed.

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 2 – A Friendly Face_

**Spencer's POV**

"Hey, heads up Spence... Mr. Clark is not a good mood today, this is the fourth coffee I've had to get for him because he keeps complaining that it's not the _right_ temperature." Quinn shouted at me as I held the front door for her as I entered the building. She rolled her eyes and chuckled while she shook her head. "I guess you have to pay your dues in the movie industry..."

Quinn Matthews, my fellow intern and friend. Although she looked like the role of a secretary with her thick framed glasses and short bob haircut, she wanted to be a movie director like me. I had suffered only a short few months of Justin Clark's Hollywood director antics, but she had been here for over a year.

We had grown close fairly early, bonding over the constant bickering and punishment Mr. Clark had been putting us through day after day. I was only here two days a week, but he made up for that by equally being a pain in my ass.

"Great, maybe I can still call in sick..." I sighed, rolling my eyes and only imagining how bad he was this morning.

Quinn laughed as we made our way onto set. "I would... but he already knows I'm here."

"Maybe he wouldn't notice anyways... I think we all look the same to him."

"He would notice... not _us_ per say but he'd notice the absence of a person there he could yell at."

"Why do we put up with this...?" I asked rhetorically, shaking my head as we both stopped walking to avoid as much time away from our boss.

"Because we have no choice... and we secretly like complaining about how crappy our job is." Quinn joked, as she began walking again towards Mr. Clark who sat all straight in his director's chair.

"Let the long day begin..." I sighed as I followed her.

--------------------------------

**Ashley's POV**

"Alright Casey, take ten..." I sighed, scratching my head in frustration. As the blonde left the recording booth, I followed her outside so I could talk to her away from all of the other studio people around. "So Casey, are you going to tell me what's up or I am really supposed to believe that you sound like shit in there all the time?"

I know it was a bit risky, but a direct approach was my best shot with a girl like this.

"What the hell!" Casey screamed back at me, getting defensive and jumping into my face so that our faces were only inches apart.

_Okay, direct approach may not have been the best idea._

"Don't act like you know a _thing_ about me, Davies!"

"I _do_ know you Casey, I know you're better than what I'm hearing in there, and I know that something _is_ bothering you. I've heard your stuff Casey... and it's good, in fact it's great, but what I see in there, isn't." I said calmly, pointing back at the studio as the young blonde lowered her head in disappointment. "And as the producer, _your_ producer, I need to fix it so we can make a great album, like I know we can. You just have to let me..."

"And what makes you think that I would want to tell you anything about me and my personal life?"

"Fine, that's fair. But if it's your personal life that is holding this whole deal back, then leave it outside the studio... or better yet, use it in your music and it makes it more powerful."

"Fuck. You." She hissed at me. "You're just the _junior _producer, nothing more. Don't tell me how to sing, or how to use personal experiences in my music. When my album comes out, it'll be Devon's name all over it, not yours."

"You're impossible you know that, I'm just trying to help you and you're being rude and completely unnecessary. And for the record, I probably know more about how to sing and how to use personal experiences in my music than you do, so yeah... you probably _should_ listen to me. But since you're a spoiled little brat, you're not going to, you're just going to sit there and make mistake after mistake in the recording booth."

"And you're making an even bigger mistake talking to me like this... when Devon finds out--"

"When Devon finds out you're not producing any songs in the studio, he'll talk to _you_, not me." I cut the girl off aggressively as my patience was wearing thin. "I know you think you're _all that_, but people in this industry aren't going to put up with stuck up act, so you better shape up or no one is going to want to work with you."

"Fuck you Davies..." Casey mumbled, pushing past me, throwing her shoulder into mine and stomped out of the building.

"Great... we hadn't finished her session. Another day wasted..." I whispered to myself, throwing my hands up in the air as the blonde makes a more than dramatic exit right in front of me.

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

Jordan had brought me as his date to the team's pre-season party. With their first game the next night, the team got together for the night and Jordan told me I had to come and meet some of the guys on the team.

"Oh, I want to introduce to this really sick guy on the team, Aly. He's been helping me out a lot in practice. Come on..." Jordan said, grabbing my hand tightly as he politely pushed his way through all the people to the other side of the room.

"Hey C-Walk! I want to introduce to my girl I was telling you about." He said to the tall blonde as he threw his hand on his shoulder to turn him around. "This is Aly... Aly, this is Cam."

As his teammate turned around, my jaw dropped to the ground as I glanced at his face.

"C-Camero--?" I stuttered, trying to close my mouth as it was open out of disbelief.

"Hey... Aly was it? Nice to finally meet you." Cameron responded with a smug smirk. "Your boy, Hayes here doesn't shut up about you. I feel as though I _already_ know you."

"It's Alexis..." I stared straight at him as I knew that Jordan wouldn't pick up on the hidden meaning behind that last line. He continued to smugly smile at me, while Jordan just stood there happy that his girl and his friend on the team had finally met.

"So what do you do here in the City of Angels?" Cameron asked curiously, crossing his arms and leaning his weight on one leg seeming interested in my response.

"I work at an entertainment magazine. I do the music section." I replied politely, still staring at him but a little more subtly as I didn't want Jordan to pick up on the slight hostility.

"Music huh...how'd you get into that?" Each question he asked me, his smirk just grew like he was actually enjoying that this was awkward for me.

"My girl used to be in a band...a kickass one if I say so myself." Jordan jumped in, throwing his arm around my shoulder and bringing me towards him. "She's a born musician..."

"Jordan, you didn't even hear us play." I poked him in the sides and shook my head.

Jordan smiled back at me and kissed my nose lightly as I scrunched my nose at him. "Yes...but I've heard both you and Ashley play, and you guys are both kickass."

"Ashley?" Cameron blurted out in an excited tone and then lowered his head a bit in embarrassment.

"Yeah, that's her roommate. You'd probably like her man, she's really chill." Jordan said, hitting Cameron lightly in the shoulder and nodding at him. "Well she wouldn't like you in _that_ way, she's pretty much married to this chick Spencer, but still... she's bomb. Actually all three of them go back to high school, they moved out here together."

"High school eh..." Cameron slowly mumbled, glancing up at me with sad eyes, and quickly glanced away as soon as I caught his gaze.

"Yes... Spencer and Ashley were the selectfew that _actually_ stayed in touch me with after high school." I spat back at him, throwing him a glare when Jordan wasn't looking.

"Well it's only _natural_ for friends to fall out once you graduate." I replied, with the same harsh tone, and adding his smug smirk in again at the end.

"Not if you actually care about them."

"Okay you guys... as _fun _as high school was, we do not have to relive those memories." Jordan cut in, finally noticing the somewhat hostility between the two of us. "All those awkward break ups and overdramatic reactions... not needed to be reminded of."

Cameron and I both dropped our heads, and then I felt Jordan's hand graze down my back and laid rest on my opposite hip.

"Which speaking of... we definitely need to get you a girl, Cam..." Jordan patted him on his shoulder and chuckled. "So you can double with Aly and I."

I noticed Cameron look at me before he smiled back at Jordan and nodded. "Yeah... I should get on that. Well I should probably continue to mingle... Hayes... _Alexis_..." He nodded before he slowly walked away, turning back once and glancing at me and then he was gone.

"So that was... Cameron." I sighed out slowly, still watching the area where he walked away before gazing back at Jordan who stood there smiling at me.

"Pretty cool guy eh?" He replied, tightening his grip on my shoulder as he turned us to go to the bar. "We should help him find a girl... he told me he's been out of the game for a while, something to due with girl from high school or something..."

All I could do was slowly nod my head at my boyfriend, trying to control any unwanted emotions about the topic to get out. Even after Cameron and I decided to stay friends, something was still there between us, and although we both told ourselves to ignore it, seeing him again after all these years, I could feel those feelings start to creep back.

I was just glad I didn't see him for the rest of the night, I don't know what I would've done.

--------------------------------

**Ashley's POV**

"How was work?" I asked the blonde, who fell back down exhausted on my bed. I brushed the hair out of her face as placed my head lightly on her chest, feeling her heart beat speed up as I continued to lay there.

"Exhausting... Justin has Quinn and I working our butts off for no apparent reason other than just to see us sweat."

"Mmm, Spencer sweat..." I purred, started to lay soft kisses along her chest, moving to her mouth and engulfing it within mine.

"_Not_ funny..." She smirked into the smile as she pushed me back lightly. "Seriously, I don't know how Quinn has done this for a year with that guy, he's a total ass. How was your day?"

"Exhausting as well... Devon has given me this new girl and she is already starting to really get on my nerves, and I'm trying to be nice... which you know is _very_ hard for me sometimes."

The blonde laughed as I intertwined our hands and leaned my chin on her chest so I could see her face. "I swear all this new young artists think they can do whatever they want...she thinks that Devon's going to continually back her so she doesn't care."

"Young? Just how young?" Spencer asked, raising her head at me and raising her eyebrow out of curiosity, with a hint of jealousy behind her beautiful blue eyes.

"Uh... I think she's nineteen or twenty?"

"Description?"

"Am I sensing a bit of jealousy here Spence?"

"Just answer the question." She scolded me lightly with a playful smirk. "It's more curiosity than anything."

"Blonde, blue eyes..." I started rambling off as Spencer began looking at me with a worried look so I put on a smug smirk, "... and _totally_ into me."

Apparently the comment wasn't appreciated since it earned me quite a hard nudge from Spencer and an even worse looking stare, before her face turned friendly again. "Sounds like me... blonde, blue eyes--"

"And totally into me?"

"Just a smidge."

"Well you don't have to worry about this younger girl, you know I only have eyes for you. Plus Casey has a completely unattractive personality, I would never go for her even if I wasn't yours."

"Well just remember that you _are_ mine." She ordered, kissing me on the nose quickly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." I grinned and laid my head back down on her chest. "It's just unfortunate that she's so difficult."

"Ugh... yeah, work sucks." Spencer whined, rolling me over so she was on top of me now and began kissing my neck. "But coming home to you makes it _so_ much better..."

"I don't know why you just don't move in with me already... you pretty much already live here." I asked as Spencer made her way up to my face and frowned at me.

She held herself up over me, and let out a soft sigh, cupping my face with one of her hands gently. "I told you... after I graduate, we can find a place for the both of us."

"Promise?" I asked, giving her a pout as she started to caress my cheek with her thumb.

"Promise."

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	3. Couldn't Say No

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_**Flashbacks**__ are in italics -- Chapter 30, You Always Have Been. _

_There's also a few songs, but they'll be easily distinguishable. _

_Chapter 3 – Couldn't Say No_

**Ashley's POV**

"Ash..." I barely heard Spencer's voice whisper my name, as I laid there watching her sleep.

"Hmm?" I moaned softly, hearing Spencer's voice I nudged up closer to her face and pulled myself even closer to her.

"Stop staring at me... after all these years, it's still creepy."

"Well then you shouldn't have made me promise that you'd sleep in my arms forever then, because I can't stop." I whispered into her ear, taking a little bit of her earlobe and nibbling on it gently. "And you know I love listening to your purring when you sleep. It's adorable."

"I do not purr." She opened one of her eyes at me and pouted.

"Well no... you actually lightly snore, but if memory serves, you didn't like that so I made it sound cuter." I smiled at the blonde and kissed her lightly on the nose. "So now you _purr_."

"You're mean."

"Oh am I?" I playfully asked, throwing my leg over top over her body and rolling her on her back, leaning down so she could feel my breath on her face. "Just how mean am I?"

"Not _that_ mean." She smirked, laying there completely still and not taking my bait to kiss me as I left my face lingering in front of hers.

"Oh yeah?" I teased, lowering myself even more so our lips were barely grazing each other. "Are you sure about that?" I asked again, flicking my tongue along her soft lips and making her softly moan at the feel of my tongue.

I could feel her start to arch her back and push pressure into my body as I laid there on top of her, still just as close as I moved down her neck and started breathing on it, throwing some tongue flicks too. I knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer because I wouldn't be able to either.

"Ashley..." She moaned out softly, unable to control her emotions as I continued barely touching her. Her hands cupped the back of my neck and I knew she was slowly giving in, all I had to do was push a little more.

"Spence..." I husked back, as not only could I smell her delicious scent, but taste her as well as I lingered by closely by her neck. I could feel her stomach start to tighten as well as I began gliding my hand down her side, dancing my fingers along as I went lower and lower.

"Ash..." Another moan escaped her mouth as I moved up to her ear again. "I only have one class today... at three." She whispered, lowering her hands to my back and gently dug her nails into it as my hands had now moved down to cup her ass.

"Then I have _all_ day to tease you..." I chuckled before having me thrown on my back by Spencer and my arms held firmly down by her hands.

"No more teasing." She hissed at me, scolding me lightly with her eyes as she stood over top of me, straddling my hips firmly.

A smug smile swept her face before I cupped the back of her neck quickly "No more teasing..." I obliged and brought her down to my face, our lips meeting in a long awaited hot kiss.

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"Hey beautiful, how was class?"

"Good." Spencer chimed, jumping into the passenger seat and giving me a quick peck on the lips.

"Good enough that you had to cut round seven short?" I pouted, taking her bag from her and throwing it in the back seat.

Spencer chuckled and shook her head while shooting me a giddy stare. "Mmm, nothing's _that_ good."

"Well maybe we can continu--" I was interrupted as I felt my phone start to vibrate in my pocket, digging it out I opened it up to read a message from Devon.

_**Ashley, I need you in the studio now. – Devon**_

"Ugh... worst timing ever. It's Devon, I have to go to the studio." I breathed out loudly, pouting at the blonde who stared back at me with a sad face. "Casey probably talked to him... I swear that girl is going to kill me. It's enough that she's making it a living hell in the studio, now she's cutting in on my Spencer time."

"Awe Ash...we will have plenty of time after you get back."

"Yeah, but I want you now." I pouted and crossed my arms, completely unimpressed.

"I thought you were supposed to go to Jordan's game with Aly after picking me up?"

"Shit... I totally forgot about that! Aly's going to be pissed. Can you go with her instead--I mean if you aren't doing anything... cause she was really nervous about it for some reason and I don't want to have to completely bail on her if I'm held up at the studio with Devon."

"Ashley..."

"Please? I'll totally make it up to tonight when I get home." I tilted my head and grinned a hopeful smile.

"You better..." Spencer stared at me while sticking out her tongue. "And no teasing like this morning!"

"You _totally_ loved that..." I smiled, putting the car into gear and stepping on the gas. "And do not even try to deny that you weren't dying inside."

--------------------------------

I dropped Spencer off at her place and went straight to the studio to meet up with Devon. I found him in the studio with Casey in the recording booth.

_You're on the phone with your girlfriend, She's upset  
She's going off about something that you said  
She doesn't get your humour like I do_

I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night  
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like  
And she'll never know your story like I do

But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts  
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers  
Dreaming bout the day when you'll wake up and find  
That what you're lookin for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you  
Been here all along so why can't you see?  
You belong with me--

"Grah!" The blonde screamed, throwing off her headphones and arms in the air as she stomped away from the microphone.

"Still not getting that note huh..." I said, walking up behind Devon who had his head dropped.

"Nope... thanks for coming in today Ashley."

"Yeah sorry Devon, I had to drop my girlfriend off first. Is this about Casey and the song?" I asked, sitting down in front of the control board as Casey remained fuming inside the box.

"I want you to write a new song for her..." He slowly raised his head and turned it towards me, as I popped up in the chair.

"What's wrong with the one we're working on now? I thought it was some of my best work, and even you said you loved it."

"Ashley, don't worry, we're going to keep the track on the album and just come back to it after we release another single first."

"This is because Casey doesn't like the song... because she can't hit that one note."

"She's having a hard time right now... so I need you to try harder with Casey... be nicer and more supportive. She's young and new to the industry so she'll need some breaking in. Just write her a new song, and we'll keep trying with this one until then."

"Alright... It's not like I couldn't say no if I wanted to, you _are_ my boss so I will try." I agreed, although knowing it would be a harder task than I could possibly imagine.

"Thank you. Can you finish this session alone? I have some other work around the office I need to attend to."

"Yeah, go... stick me with the blonde when she's all mad."

"Be nice." He ordered, pointing at me before he left the studio.

"Casey!" I yelled into the intercom, getting the furious girl's attention as she turned to the direction of the booth and threw her hands up, wanting me to continue.

_Be nice... _

I closed my eyes, and scrunched my face as I pushed on the intercom button again. "Would... you... like... to... try... again...or... would... you... like... to.... stop?" I slowly asked, trying my best to be 'nice' to the blonde.

She just stared at me, probably thinking I was a moron for talking slowly. "Is there actually a point to trying again? Do you honestly think I'm going to get that note..."

"Just don't think about it... just sing." I answered back trying to be supportive.

"Just sing... that's your advice?"

"Forget this song for a second..." I start to say as I push down the intercom, and instead decide to go into the recording box with her. "Alright... put 'You Belong with Me' on the back burner, and just sing... _any_ song you want to."

"Any song?" The blonde looks at me with a very confused face.

"_Any_ song." I repeat, nodding my head and pushing the microphone closer to her. "Any song you want to sing, just have fun with it."

"Mmmk." The blonde nodded and shrugged, giving me a weird smirk before turning to the microphone.

_I will be the one to love and comfort you from now until the day I die.  
I will take you places that you only think about when you're asleep at night.  
Let me take the time to understand and I will set your spirit free._

If you get down on me, I'll get down on you.  
I will do anything that you want me to.  
It's a game of give and take to make it through.  
So if you get down on me, I'll get down on you tonight.

When night time turns to day again,  
and you are on my mind.  
Winter turns to spring and then,  
life has past you by.  
Right now we are so young and free.  
But we're running out of time.  
So while we've got each other here.  
Let's treat our bodies right.

I wanna know, exactly what to do,  
So that you'll never get me off of your mind.  
Communicate, and I'll go undercover  
Gonna make you come tonight,  
Over to my house,

If you get down on me, I'll get down on you,  
I will do anything that you want me to,  
It's a game of give and take to make it through.  
So if you get down on me, I'll get down on you tonight.

"Out of all the songs you could have sang, you chose _that_ one?" I asked, my jaw pretty much hitting the floor as the blonde stopped singing and smiled at me.

"Okay... fine. I'll sing another song then since you didn't appreciate _that_ one." She snapped at me, clearing her throat and stepping back near the microphone.

_I wanna sex you up  
Let me freak you up  
I wanna sex you up  
I know the way you like it--_

"Okay... that's enough." I cut her off and shake my head as the room had known turned rather awkward, especially since the blonde was facing towards me when she sang, probably taking enjoyment out of the fact I was cringing.

"What? You said _anything_... besides it was that or 'I'm too sexy'."

"Yeah well, fun time is over. My point was... that you just need to be inspired to sing something. You had no problems with those songs because you were just having fun with them and _just_ singing. It wasn't about hitting the right note or the right key... it was just about the music."

"Huh... you know, that actually made sense."

"I have my moments..." I replied, rolling my eyes at the girl who finally picked up on my musical background knowledge. "And I did tell you I know what I'm doing, you just wouldn't listen."

"Alright, fine... I'm sorry." Casey sighed out loudly, shrugging in defeat. "So I'm assuming you want me to try 'You Belong with Me' again?"

"Not tonight... go home, get some rest. We'll continue tomorrow."

"Really? Oh okay... well could you at least give me a ride home? My car is in the shop..."

_Be nice Ashley..._

"Fine, just don't touch anything in my car." I agreed, grabbing my stuff and shutting everything down before Casey and I went to my car.

"See... I know I picked the right song to sing." The girl mumbled, breaking the nine minutes of silence of the car ride as I turned to her and raised my eyebrow out of confusion. "You are _coming_ over to my house tonight."

"I'm dropping you off, I hardly call that 'coming over'... and you do realize that that's not actually what they meant in the song... they added 'over to my house' to make it less dirty."

"I can work with that too."

"Casey."

"Yes?"

"We're here, get out of the car."

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

"Thanks for coming with me Spence." I leaned over and shouted in her ear over the roar of the crowd.

"No problem Aly. It's just too bad that Ashley had to work."

"Nonsense, I'm glad you're here. We don't get to hang out just you and me, Ash or Jordan is always around." I said, smiling at the blonde who had worn Ashley's Clippers jersey that Jordan got her when he got drafted.

Our eyes were drawn to the court as the lights dimmed, smoke appeared and the announcers voice came on.

"This is your starting line up for YOUR LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS! At centre, #23 from Massachusetts, Marcus Camby! At your forward, #32 from Oklahoma, Blake Griffin! At your other forward, #31 from Iowa, Ricky Davis! At your 1-guard, #1 from UCLA, Baron Davis! And finally, at the other guard, #21 from UCLA, Cameron Walker!"

Spencer whipped her head over to me and dropped her mouth as her eyes grew wide. "Uh... Alexis, did they just say--"

"Yeah--they did..." I replied, cutting her off and nodding. "Now you know why I wanted someone here with me..."

"Holy crap! I didn't even know Cam got drafted..." Spencer screamed over the roar of the crowd as the players made their way to centre court for the tip off.

"Yeah... imagine my surprise when I found out."

"Does Jordan know? I mean about you and Cam?"

"No... which made him introducing me to Cameron, _really _awkward."

"Wait, Jordan introduced you to Cam at the party?" Spencer asked, laughing softly at the situation in disbelief. "Wow..."

"Yeah. Apparently, they've become quite close...just my luck." I sighed loudly, slouching down a bit in my car as Spencer gave me a funny look. "I'm sorry, would you want Ashley to become best friends with Chloe?"

"I think that would be rather hard after Chloe beat her up... I don't think Ashley is that forgiving of a person." Spencer giggled to herself and then smiled at me. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't mock the situation you have yourself in. But come on, it can't be _that _bad, them being friends. Plus you and Cam became friends after you two broke up back in high school, isn't this all kind of water under the bridge?"

"Except Cameron wanted to be more... and I-I did too, I just couldn't let myself do that because of what he did. It was just too soon after what he did with Logan."

"So what are you saying Aly? That you still have feelings for Cam?"

"I don't know... my head's all mixed up right now. I mean I'm happy with Jordan, it's just Cameron is--"

"Cameron."

"Yeah... shit Spence." I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air out of frustration. "My life isn't supposed to be dramatic like this, that what you and Ash are for." I said, smiling and nudging the blonde as she laughed along with me.

"Excuse me, but I'd like to think that Ashley and I have been pretty drama free lately..."

"Yeah cause you guys are like a married couple... I'm surprised one of you hasn't popped the question or at least moved in together..."

"Ashley has tried... I mean, asking me to move in with her, not marriage... god, that would be--"

"What, you wouldn't say yes if Ashley asked you to marry her?" I cut her off, astounded that Spencer sounded actually unsure about the topic. "

"_I love you Ashley, I love you. And I never want to lose you again, I just want to be with you."_

"_I love you too Spencer." Ashley whispered while cupping my face with her hand. "I knew it then, I know it now, I'll know it always. You're the one I want to be with, there's no questioning it, there's no holding back, no over analyzing it, it just is. You're it. You're my one."_

"_I am?"_

"_You always have been."_

I smiled as I looked at the girl waiting for my answer patiently. "I would in an instant, there's no doubt in my mind that I want to marry Ashley, it's just a matter of timing. And with the whole deal of moving in together, I told her that I didn't want to until after I graduate. I know I pretty much live at your place anyways, but I don't want to deal with a new house until school's over."

"So theoretically, if Ashley asked you to marry her the night of your graduation--"

"I told you, I couldn't say no...not to Ashley."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: I didn't exactly intend to write this chapter the way I did, but it came out that way... so I hope it was at least bearable. Sorry if it wasn't...

First song is "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift

The second is "Get Down" by B4-4. Got to love the subtleness of 90s music. (: I love being a 90s kid. Haha. I can't believe I sang this song when I was like 14... No wonder my generation is so fucked up.

I actually had a hilarious time picking out that song, going through all my 90s music... I really wanted to do a Moffats song, but "Get Down" is so much more provocative. I will be singing the Moffats for the rest of the night... and maybe for the rest of the weekend. Hehe.

The third one is "I Wanna Sex You Up" by LFO and it was just too good not to throw in there.

Oh... and I do actually put the songs in for a reason too... so I'm not just throwing out random lyrics for you guys. They all have something to do with the story in some way or another.

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	4. Looks Bad

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 4 – Looks Bad_

**Ashley's POV**

"How is she doing so far?" I asked Nate, the co-producer as I entered the studio and noticed Casey was already in the booth singing.

"Good." Nate simply said, pulling his headphones down off his ears, and spinning around to face me. "She actually hit that one note she's been struggling with."

_Ha! My technique worked. Take that bitch ass blonde._

"Great... maybe now she'll stop complaining so much and won't be a such a pain the ass." I replied, getting a 'yeah right' look from Nate and I shrugged back as Casey continued to sing in the booth.

_Standing by or waiting at your back door  
All this time how could you not know that  
You belong with me  
You belong with me_

Have you ever thought just maybe  
You belong with me  
You belong with me

"Okay, probably not, but at least she hit the note..." I tried looking on the upside as Nate laughed at me. Casey emerged from the booth as she finished up the song and frowned as soon as she saw me.

"Well done, Casey. I see you've finally got past that one spot." I congratulated her as entered the studio.

She glances at me for a second with a disgusted look before rolling her eyes. "Don't think you're little thing a few days ago had _anything_ to do with it..."

"The point is you hit the note, and the song sounds great. So we can move onto the next single." I replied, ignoring to throw a comeback at her comment.

"Whatever..." She hissed at me, waving me off with her hand as she made her way over to the other side and sat beside Nate. "Play it back for me Nate, _I_ want to check if it's goodbefore _we_ move on."

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

"Listen Lexi, I really am sorry for losing contact after high school. We didn't really talk about where we left things before graduating and I guess I just assumed." Cameron apologized as he moved to my couch to sit down. I had taken the seat across from him, being on the same piece of furniture would just be too much temptation.

I had called Cameron the night after going to the basketball game with Spencer and asked him to come over so we could talk about our whole situation with Jordan, hoping that it would clear some things up for me in the process. Plus, we had to find the best way to tell Jordan about us and our history that wouldn't come out in a way that would make things awkward between the three of us.

"It wasn't like I couldn't have picked up the phone either. I guess we were both just too busy, you with basketball and me with my music."

"Still I'm sorry. You mean--_meant_ too much to me to just lose contact like that..." He stuttered, as he fidgeted with his hands and faltered his eye contact with mine.

_Oh boy... yeah, this isn't going to be awkward at all. _

I stared at him, opening my mouth a few times, just to have it close again as I didn't really know what to say after that. It wasn't until he glanced back up at me that I looked away out of embarrassment.

He chuckled at my reaction while he shook his head. "So you and Hayes huh, how'd that exactly happen?"

"We don't have to talk about that if you don't want to..." I said, hoping that he would agree as I secretly didn't want to. "I mean... it would be kind of awkward with our... uh... _history._"

"It's fine Lexi, we're not in high school anymore. I'm hoping we can be civil about these kinds of things, and plus... I like the guy, he's like my best friend on the team."

_Which makes this SO much better..._

"We haven't been dating for that long, only a couple of months, almost five actually." I replied with some hesitation, not being able to look Cameron in the eyes. "But you're right, he's a great guy and I really like him."

"Well I'm glad." He said softly, trying his hardest to say it a tone that sound like he meant it.

"So what about you... no prospects?"

"Na, it's hard with basketball. You're traveling so much and everything. You're lucky you got Jordan before things start getting busy."

"Yeah, it'll be hard though when the team travels, who knows, maybe I'll come along for some of the games if I can get off work."

"I'm sure he'd like that Lexi." He smiled at me as he patted on thigh lightly. "And I would too. Have you told him about me yet?"

"What do you think...?" I asked rhetorically, shaking my head. "I kind of got blind sighted at the party, and I didn't want to tell him anything until I talked to you about it."

"It's funny, that whole time he was talking about his girlfriend, Aly, I never put it together that it could _possibly _be you..."

"Small world."

"Yeah, no kidding. I can't believe you moved down here with Ash and Spence. How are they by the way?"

"The same old Ashley and Spencer, still like an old married couple... that fuck _a lot_."

He laughed at me as he glanced around our place aimlessly. "And you agreed to live with Ash willingly?"

"There's a reason my bedroom is on the opposite side of the apartment." I chuckled myself, pointing behind me to my room. "Plus I lived with all throughout college, and we did room together in our last year of high school. I'm pretty sure I'm used to zoning the noises out."

"Should I be sitting on this couch?" He asked jokingly, standing up quite fast and pointing down at it as he looked at me with one raised eyebrow before sitting back down and laughing.

"Err... actually, probably not." I answered with a serious face with made his eyes pop open. "And not just because of Spence and Ashley."

"Dude!" He yelled, jumping up and standing. "You could of warned me I sat down on the 'sex couch'!"

"Where would the fun in that be?" I chuckled, leaning back on the chair as I stood there watching Cameron pat off his ass and everything that was touching the couch.

"Don't worry... there hasn't been any action on that couch for a few weeks or so, well actually, I can't speak for Spencer and Ashley so don't quote on me that..."

"Ugh!" He yelled louder, patting himself off faster now as I sat there enjoying this moment.

Cameron ran into the kitchen and came back quickly holding a towel, placing it carefully down on the couch and then sitting back down, on the towel. "There... much better."

"I'm glad to see you're still strange Cam..."

He dropped his face to the ground and started fiddling with his hands before raising his head and looking me slowly in the eyes. "Yeah so about us..."

--------------------------------

**Spencer's POV**

"Hey baby." I yelled, running to the black Porsche that had a certain brunette parked on its hood waiting for me. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's alright, I was just looking at the scenery."

"Anything interesting?" I asked as she jumped off the car and gave me a light kiss.

"Nothing nearly as interesting as _your_ scenery." She husked, looking me up and down as she licked her lips slowly and gestured to me with her eyebrows.

"You are insatiable, you know that..." I shook my head as she smirked at me.

Ashley raised her one eyebrow as she crossed her arms in front of me and smirked back. "Are you complaining Ms. Carlin?"

"No, I'm just making a simple observation."

"Hm... well how about you're so unbelievably gorgeous..." She said, gripping my waist and pulling me closer to her, her legs on each side of me. "How's that for a _simple_ observation."

"That would still probably lead back to you being insatiable." I laughed, nudging her slightly before bringing her into a hug and nuzzling my lips along her neck. "But I'm okay with that." I smiled and kissed her collarbone lightly.

"Good because I don't have to go back to the studio tonight." Ashley whispered in my ear, flicking her tongue at it and nibbling on my earlobe gently.

"We r-really... have to... stop doing... this here." I mumbled out, as Ashley had moved further down to my neck and had begun sucking on it persistently. I stretched my neck, giving her more access to it, as she continued sucking harder, nibbling occasionally. My hands were viciously all over her back, pulling her closer to me and trying to grip onto anything.

"I can't help it if you're so addicting." She purred, stroking my bottom lip with her fingers and lingering by my face so our lips were just grazing each others.

"We should go..." I muttered, pulling back gradually from the brunette and noticing that we had brought in a little bit of a crowd.

"Back to my place?" She jumped up and smiled at me, hopeful for my reaction. She waved at all the people staring and took a bow before taking my hand and opening the car door for me as I got in.

"You are unbelievable you know that..."

"Why thank you, you weren't too shabby last night either." She winked at me as she turned her car on and put it in drive.

--------------------------------

As we pulled into the driveway we noticed Jordan just getting out his car ahead of us.

"Hayes!" Ashley yelled, getting the boy's attention.

"Hey girls, glad you're here. I wanted to surprise Aly and it makes it easier to get into your place now that you're here."

"Surprise her? Surprise her with what?" I asked curiously as Ashley and I walked up the driveway closer to Jordan, hands intertwined.

"Well I'm not going to be here on Saturday for our five month anniversary so I thought I'd surprise her by doing it tonight." He replied in the cutest tone as he smiled like a dork at us. It's not like we could say anything, we were an even cheesier couple.

"Awe, that's so sweet Jordan." I commented, putting a small smile on my face as the blonde in front of me looked proud. "Why don't you do stuff like that for me?" I turned to Ashley and pouted, jokingly.

"Excuse me?" The brunette asked, offended, letting go of my hand.

"I'm just kidding babe." I grinned, taking her hand back and kissing it lightly. "I love _all_ the stuff you do for me."

"You better." She winked at me, squeezing my hand tightly as we walked to the door.

"Hey Aly! We're home!" Ashley yelled, taking my hand and leading me towards her room as we saw Alexis and...

"Cameron?" Ashley screamed, as the tall blonde stood up from the couch as he heard her voice. "Oh my god! Cameron Walker is that you?"

"Hey Davies! Spencer... and... oh shit." Cameron greeted us and then saw Jordan trailing behind.

"Hayes? What the hell?" Jordan screamed, finally seeing him as he walked quickly past Ashley and I. "Aly, what is Cam doing here?" Jordan asked patiently pointing the other blonde who was standing along with Alexis.

Alexis walked towards him as he backed up and held his hands up. "Jordan, it's not what it looks like... Cam and I--"

"No Alexis, let me explain..." Cameron interrupted her as he stepped in front of the girl so he was standing between her and Jordan. "Listen Hayes, she's right, this isn't what it looks like. W-we sort of _know_ each other."

"Know each other how?" Jordan's voice began getting angry as Ashley and I crept to the corner of the room, not wanting to be in the way.

"Do you think we should give them privacy?" I whispered to the brunette as she stood in front of me with her arms around both my sides, almost acting like she was protecting me.

"What? And miss this? Hell no." She whispered back, turning her head towards me and giving me an evil grin as I shook my head and rolled my eyes at the girl.

"All four of us..." Cameron explained, pointing around the room, "we kind of all went to high school together."

"Wait... so Alexis, _MY_ Aly, is _your_ Lexi from high school?"

Cameron bobbled his head around and scrunched his face together, grinding his teeth in the process. "Yeah..."

"And the reason you two didn't tell me... I don't know, when I _introduced_ you to each other is because...?"

Cameron took a step closer to Jordan, as he could see him getting angrier. "We know this looks bad Hayes, but--"

"We wanted to talk about it first, which is what you walked in on..." Alexis calmly explained, "... nothing happened."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: So I know not _a lot _is happening with Spashley, but I wanted to establish their good relationship before getting into the drama.

Song is still "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift. It'll be the last time used, I swear.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	5. So Will You

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R. Let me know if you want anything specific to happen in future chapters and I'll see if I can make it happen.

_Chapter 5 – So Will You_

**Ashley's POV**

As I laid there awake, staring at Spencer sleeping once again, I couldn't resist stroking the side of her face as she laid there so peacefully 'purring'. It wasn't until I saw the corner of her lips lift into a small smile that I abruptly stopped, noticing that I had woken her.

"Ash... what are you doing?" Spencer moaned, opening her eyes slowly to find me smiling giddily at her.

"I was just watching you sleep, thinking that things will always be like _this_."

I threw my arms out for her as Spencer scooted closer to me and nuzzled into my collarbone, getting more comfortable. "Like what?" She asked as I closed my arms around her tightly.

I leaned my head down on hers and closed my eyes, listening to her breathing. "Perfect... it's like we can just shut out the world here so it's just you and me."

She kissed my collarbone softly as I felt her head fall back on my chest. "Well as much as I enjoy shutting out the world with you, I have to get to school. Do you mind getting changed and driving me?"

"Ugh... do I have to?" I whined as Spencer readjusted her body closer to mine, tucking her head down into the crook in my neck.

"Unless you want to drive me to school naked..." Spencer said sarcastically looking up and down at my naked body as I raised my eyebrows up and down, giving her a seductive look. "No, Ashley."

"You're so not fun at all, Spence..." I pouted as she pried herself away from my body and got out of bed.

"Just get dressed already..." She requested, throwing on some clothes of hers and turning around to stare at me lying there in the bed still.

I smiled, following her lead by getting out of bed. "Fine... Let me just put on my socks and we can go."

Ten minutes later, Spencer and I were in my car, on route to UCLA. We tried making it routine every time I spent the night with her that I'd drive her to school the next day, and whenever I could, I would pick her up.

"Hey you... wait for a second." I yelled as Spencer turned to grab her school bag from the back seat and opened the car door.

"What's up Ash?" She replied turning her head as I grabbed her hand lightly.

"Nothing... I just wanted to kiss my girlfriend before she went off to her last college class." I smirked while pushing her up against the back of the seat and engulfing her mouth within mine.

I moaned as felt Spencer's hands fall down my back and settle in my back pocket of my jeans. "Yummy..." I whispered, brushing off Spencer's bottom lip with my thumb.

Spencer pushed me away lightly and laughed, "You are _still _such a nerd, Ashley."

"Soft, nerdy Ashley Davies... that's my rep when I'm with you."

"And you're okay with that?" She asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

I smiled at her, wiping away her curiosity as I reached for her hand. "If it means being with you, I'm perfectly okay with it. Now go on... we don't want you to be late. I'll see you later tonight, babe. We'll go out and celebrate your last college class ever!" I kissed her quickly before she jumped out of the car, turning around and glancing back at me one more time before I drive off.

--------------------------------

"Wow, you're up early Ash." Alexis commented as she saw me walk back into the apartment.

I threw my purse on the counter and went to grab a cup of coffee that Alexis had just poured for herself. "Spence stayed the night so I had to drive her to school."

"_Had_ to... right." She rolled her eyes at me and chuckled. "I am amazed on how badly that girl has you whipped."

I move around the kitchen island and take a seat next to my best friend on the bar stools as I shake my head at her. "When is being whipped _ever_ a bad thing?" I asked, raising my eyebrows up and down and giving her a seductive look that I know will make her squirm out of discomfort.

"Dude, I do not need to know how kinky your and Spencer's sex life is! I already hear it enough echoing through the walls."

_Told you._

"And you know what, I like doing nice things for my girl friend....especially when I get rewarded afterwards." I smile seductively again, this time not being able to contain my laughter as Alexis shoots me a glare.

Alexis jumps down from the stool beside me, kicking it slightly back as she walked over to the sink and placed her empty coffee cup down. "You're an ass, you know that..."

"I love you too, Aly." I chuckled, leaning down on the counter as I enjoyed my coffee. "So on the topic of Spencer, I wanted to run something by you before I went out with her tonight..."

"Oh my god, are you going to ask her to marry you?" Alexis jumped up in excitement and started squealing.

"I was thinking about it... I know I've been asking her to move in with me for a while, but she already kind of does _live_ with me, well us. I just want to be able to look into her blue eyes in the morning and know that we're going to be like that forever, and I want the world to know it too. But I wanted to ask you before because if I do ask her to marry me, it'd mean I would move out of here, and I totally don't want to bail on you like that."

"How bad of a best friend would I be if I didn't let—no, make you go through with this? Of course I think you should and as much as you think I enjoy you living here with you, I will be fine." Alexis winked at me as she playfully nudged me. "Plus, Spencer is totally expecting you to ask her."

"Hold up, you talked to Spencer about this? When? Wait, what did she say?"

"You're just going to have to ask her yourself, Ashley Davies... tonight, at dinner, preferable down on one knee."

"You're so mean, Aly... not even a little hint?"

"Do I really need to give you one?"

"Fine, well if we aren't going to talk about my relationship, how about we talk about yours... or maybe about your little visit with Cam?"

She turned around and faced me, her eyes unable to look right at mine. "I was wondering when you were going to bring that up..." Alexis sighed out loudly as she jumped up on the counter, legs freely swaying in the air.

"Why didn't you tell me that you two were talking again?" I asked as I jumped down from my stool and popped up on the counter beside her, patting her thigh. "You could've told me Aly... you know you can tell me anything."

"I know... and I was going to tell you--at the game, but then you had to work so I ended up talking to Spencer about it."

"And then you tried to talk to Cam about it and everything exploded in your face when Jordan walked in..."

"Yeah, pretty much. But I didn't lie to Jordan, Cam and I.... we _just_ talked."

"I believe you Aly." I took her hand in mine and squeezed it lightly. "I believe you..."

"I just wish Jordan did."

"Have you talked to him ever since that night?"

"No I've tried but the team left on a five-game road trip... and he's not returning my calls." She replied as her head fell into her hands and she began to softly cry.

"Well maybe Cam will talk to him and sort this whole thing out."

"Yeah, no... I don't think he's going to do that." Alexis replied, looking up as if she were contemplating something and then shaking her head. "Well, you know how I said we talked..." Alexis began as I nodded and kept quiet, not interrupting as she continued. "Cameron kind of said he still had feelings for me."

"Wait... what?" Queue my jaw dropping to the floor.

"He said he still liked me Ash... and the more I keep thinking about it, I think I still do too."

"So what about Jordan?"

"I'm still with Jordan... hopefully, and with Cameron being back it doesn't change the way I feel for Jordan, it just makes it a bit more--"

"Complicated?"

"Yeah...when did _my_ life become complicated...?"

"Uh...when did we become so old that I'm actually getting ready to ask someone to marry me...?"

"I need a drink..." Alexis loudly sighed as her face fell into her hands.

--------------------------------

**Spencer's POV**

"So..." Ashley mumbled, as she glanced down at her plate and started playing with her food a bit. "I have to admit that tonight wasn't just about celebrating your last class, I kind of wanted to ask you something..."

I sat there smiling at the brunette who was looking really nervous across from me. I remembered what Alexis had asked me back at the Clippers game and I could only smile even more as I thought about it.

"_So theoretically, if Ashley asked you to marry her the night of your graduation--"_

"_I told you, I couldn't say no...not to Ashley."_

"Ashley?" I asked, reaching over and grabbing her hand to calm her. I knew that I was just as nervous as she was, but I didn't need her to know that. "Everything is fine, you know you can ask me anything..."

"I know you haven't exactly graduated yet... cause you have exams and everything still... but..." I can only continue to smile even more as she continues to babble on, her nervousness is adorable. I squeeze her hand as she continues to try to get out her question which throws her off as her head pops up and gives me a stare. "You know, doing that...." She lifts up our intertwined hands in the air, "... does not make this easier."

I can only softly chuckle as she sits there still giving me an unimpressed stare. "I'm sorry babe, keep going, you were doing great." I said sarcastically since she knew she was blabbing on like an idiot.

Ashley lets out a big sigh before trying again, looking at my eyes this time around as her one hnd dropped down to her jean pocket. "Spencer Carlin..."

"Yes?" I said mockingly with a devilish smirk, trying not to squeeze her hand tighter like last time.

"Will you..." _yes..._

"Will you..." _yes..._

"Will you..." _Come on Ashley..._ _spit it out. Will you marry me...?_

"Will you... will you pass me the butter please?" _What?_

"Uh...sure?" I responded with a ridiculously confused look on my face as Ashley lowered her face again to her plate. "Just as soon as you move in with me."

"What?" Her head popped straight up and peered at me, her eyes were almost angry.

"I'll pass you the butter as soon as you agree to move in with me." I smiled at the brunette who quirked her eyebrow up at me accompanied by a puzzled smile. "So will you?"

"Spencer... you know I wanted to ask you." She pouted and pulled her hand back as I sat there giggling to myself. "I've been asking you for the last few months."

"I know, but you blew your chance by asking for the butter." I laughed, now passing her the butter like she asked. "So you lose your turn, babe, and it's mine. I promised you that we'd move in together after I was done school. So again I ask... will you move in with me?"

"I would love to move together, Spencer Carlin."

"Good cause there is this girl, you might know her, her name is Ashley Davies and I'm kind of completely in love with her."

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	6. Alexis' New Roommate

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 6 – Alexis' New Roommate_

**Ashley's POV**

"Do you want to have dinner tonight? Maybe stay in, order some delivery and watch a movie or _something_?" I asked Spencer as I stroked her hair, her head placed on my chest as we laid together in my bed.

"Or something, eh?" Spencer whispered, pulling herself completely on top of me and grazing my lips with her, teasing me on purpose.

"Mhmm." I moaned out, losing even more control as she continued to tease my body, breathing down my neck and caressing my side with her hand, everything that she knew would drive me crazy.

"As tempting as that sounds, uh... I kind of already have plans for tonight. Megan called me and said she was in town for a few days and thought we should get together and catch up."

"Megan... like from college, Megan?" I asked, sitting up and leaning my weight on my hands behind me as I gave her a questionable look.

"Yes, are you going to be okay with this? I mean I can call her and cancel if it's going to bug you." She asked as a weak smile appeared on her face. I could tell she wanted to go, and who was I to deny her that right?

I cupped her face and smiled at the blonde, reassuring her that I wasn't. "No of course not, don't be ridiculous... go have dinner with your friend. I trust you." I kissed her lips softly to reassure her again that I wasn't bothered at all. "Just come over after, okay? I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" She grinned and then pouted as she knew I wasn't going to give anything away.

I shot down the girl's pout with a firm stare and head shake. "Mhmm... tonight."

"Not even a hint?" She asked, moving up on my body and stroking my inner thigh softly with her hand.

"Nope." I resisted, cupping her face to only pat it lightly and smile blissfully at the girl.

"Okay... and maybe tomorrow after work we can go look for places?" She asked nervously, dropping her gaze from my eyes and falling to the bed.

"Sure, I'd love that." I snuck back down and pulled her on top of me again, as she smiled at my response and I began stroking her hair again.

"This... this is what I love." Spencer whispered while closing her eyes and bringing her hand to my heart, feeling my heartbeat as she rested her head on my chest again. "Do you _have_ to go to the studio today?"

"No, Casey asked for the day off... she said something about having to do something important. I'm not quite sure, but Devon agreed to it..."

I felt her hand sneak under my tank top that was tightly fitted across my stomach, running her hands over my abs. "Good, so how about we do a little _something_ right now then?"

--------------------------------

**Spencer's POV**

Ashley had dropped me off just a little bit before Megan was supposed to meet me at my apartment. Although she agreed to it, I could see the jealousness in her eyes. It was adorable that she was still jealous. I find jealously flattering, it's such a normal human instinct, being territorial over the things you love.

"Hey Meg!" I yelled at the girl standing up against my apartment pillar.

"Hey back, Carlin." She greeted me with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Wow don't you look all tanned. It suits you..." She commented, looking me up and down probably a few too many times. I didn't mind though, it was Meg.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself." I chuckled and nudged her hip as we walked to my car.

"Well duh."

I shook my head at the girl as we both jumped into my car and drove to a nearby burger joint. We took the back booth and ordered two burgers and fries, our usual whenever we used to go out. I had kept in touch with Megan over the years, there was no reason not to after the way we ended things. I ended up taking Ashley to see a few of her games too, but she never really got into the sport.

"So how's life here in Los Angeles?"

"Well I just graduated from UCLA, and I'm interning at this great movie studio. Things are really good."

"And how's Ashley, you two crazy kids married yet?" She asked curiously, throwing another fry into her mouth, and smiling at me.

"No..." I chuckled softly as I knew she was semi joking. "Not yet anyways, but I asked Ashley to move in with me..."

"Wow, seriously? When?" She nodded in I hoped to be approval, as she held out a fry in front of her and waivered it back and forth before throwing it into my mouth. "Nice, still got it Carlin."

"Just a few days ago, we were celebrating my last class of college and she was trying to ask me--" I replied between chewing the fry I just caught and then throwing one back.

"Wait, let me guess...you stole her thunder?" She asked and all I could do was look down and blush. "Well done, Carlin. Glad to see you haven't changed one bit." Megan laughed and smiled at me.

"Should I take that as a compliment?"

"You can take it however you want, Carlin." She popped another fry into her mouth and raised her eyebrows at me. "Oh! You have got to come to a LA Riptide game with me while I'm here. Just for old time sake."

"You and your lacrosse Meg... Glad to see _you _haven't changed." I stuck out my tongue at the girl who was giggling back at me. "Of course I'll come to a game with you."

"Good cause you know you're my good luck charm."

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

"Thanks for helping out Ash." I said, showing another girl out of the house. I had seen about eight girls already for my new roommate, some that were okay, others that were completely out of the question. I asked Ashley to help me as Spencer had plans tonight as well as I wanted her approval.

"No problem, although I have to admit that this is a bit weird... It's kind of like I'm choosing my replacement."

"They aren't going to replace you as my best friend... just your bedroom, which I hope you will clean _thoroughly_ before leaving." I laughed and slowly nudged the girl as she rolled her eyes and gave me a pout. "And don't give me that look, I know how much you like to _experiment_ on different types of furniture..."

"That's totally not fair, Aly." She whined, crossing her arms as she plopped back down on our couch.

"Do I need to remind you about my 'no kitchen' policy for you... I mean I thought we established the 'no living room' policy for a reason, I don't even want to know about the bathroom..."

"Hey! You said living room, not the kitchen. They are _completely_ different."

"You're right, the kitchen is worse since I eat in there."

"Well... so did I." A smug smirk swept her face as she held in a laugh.

My face grimaced as I couldn't even imagine that in our kitchen. "Dude, that's just gross." I yelled at her, hitting her with a pillow and shaking my head, unimpressed.

"You brought it up..." Ashley laughed at me and smiled smugly.

"I wouldn't have if I thought you'd throw that at me. What did I tell you about me not wanting to know about your and Spencer's sex life..."

"You secretly love hearing about it... don't even lie." Ashley laughed and nudged me. "Anyways, I want to go check on my surprise and make sure it's still on time for when Spencer gets here. Do you think you can handle this one alone?"

"Sure. It's the last one, so you can call it a night if you want. But do you mind if you go in my room so I can show you room to the girl?" I nodded my head at Ashley as she pulled out her cell phone and dialled a number and walked into my room, shutting the door.

Moments later, there was a knock at the door in which I excitedly ran to and opened it up to reveal a petite blonde girl on the other side.

"Hi, I'm here about the roommate ad?" The girl strongly said, holding up one of the posters I put around town and smiled firmly at me.

"Yeah, come on in. I'm Alexis."

"Casey... Casey Wright." I waved her into the house and gestured her to the couch as I closed the door and looked her up and down to see if I could see myself living with her.

I sat across from the blonde in the chair as I continued to examine her subtly. "Alright so tell me about yourself, Casey."

"Uh, well I'm 19, pretty outgoing, I've lived in California my whole life and I went to UCLA for a year and then realized that college wasn't for me."

"Oh and why's that?"

"I didn't like being in a classroom. I'm a musician so I love being on stage and performing... I don't know, school just didn't call to me like music does."

"Oh cool, I play too. Not as much anymore, but here and there. My current roommate and I have a music room in here, I'll show it to you when I give you the tour."

"Sounds great. I've been actually looking for a new place for a while now, and when I saw this one and where it was located, I knew I had to check it out. It's the perfect location, not too far off from the beach, and my studio isn't that far away either."

"Studio? So you record and everything?"

"Yeah, I just got signed recently with Universal."

"Really? My roommate actually works there as a producer, I wonder if you know her, Ashley Davies?"

"Huh... nope." She answered quite quickly, with the outsides of her mouth turning upwards a bit, before they went back down.

"I guess it is a rather big company. So what else do you want to tell me? Boyfriend?"

"Uh... no." She laughed and shook her head firmly . "No boyfriend, you won't have any naked guys running around here, that's for sure!"

"Oh okay. Is that it?" I asked the girl and she nodded and shrugged. "Okay, well I guess I'll show you the place then. I can't show you my room as my roommate is in there on a private call, so I don't want to disturb her, but I'll show you the rest of the place."

"Sounds good."

After showing her around the house, except for my room, I walked the blonde to the door.

"Well it was very nice to meet you, Casey. I'll definitely be in touch."

"Sounds great, thanks a lot, Alexis." The girl cheerfully grinned as she leaned in to hug me unexpectedly and almost skipped out the door.

"How was the last one?" Ashley asked, coming back out of my room and pointing at the doorway the blonde just walked out of.

"Good...I think I found my new roommate."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Just a note, Aly doesn't know about Casey and even if she did, there would be no way she would think this blonde girl would be the same one that works with Ashley. Even with Spencer, Ashley never divulged her full name, so there would be no reason not to assume anything suspicious.

Ashley's surprise is going to be next chapter... can you guess what it is? I bet it's not what you think. (:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	7. Aly and Her Boys

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 7 – Aly and her Boys_

**Ashley's POV**

"So what are we watching?" I asked, plopping down on the couch and joining Alexis. I didn't know how long Spencer would be at dinner with Megan, so I might as well sit back and relax.

"True Blood..." Alexis said slowly in disappointment. "This show is amazing, but I still don't get the hype about vampires and biting. What's so great about them? They are pale and dead, and their skin is ice cold. How is that remotely attractive?"

I looked at the screen and saw the guy, and scrunched my face. "Well I don't know about being dead and all, but biting is definitely hot."

"That was another reference to your sex life with Spencer wasn't it...?" Alexis looked over at me and stared as I smiled happily back at her.

"Hey, I'm moving out, I got to throw in as many as I can before I leave." My smile grew wider as Alexis continued to look unimpressed. "Fine... no more. So have you got a hold of Jordan yet?"

"Na, he's still out of town, the team is supposed to get back tonight though. He probably is waiting to get back so he can break up with me face to face..."

"You don't know that Aly... you shouldn't assume the worst. He's probably just busy with basketball."

"I love you and all Ash, but you suck at lying...He's not _too_ busy with basketball because Cameron has called me every day since being away."

"Seriously? Well done Cam."

"Ashley..."

"I'm sorry, but at least he's making an effort. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Alexis glanced down at her fumbling hands and I heard her let out a soft sigh. "I don't know, but I think--"

"Ashley! I'm back!" I heard a girly pitched voice yell from the other room, only assuming it was Spencer back from dinner with Megan.

"We'll finish this talk later..." I whispered to Alexis, patting her shoulder and getting up to make my way over to my girl. "Hey baby, how was your date?" I asked jokingly, throwing my arms around her waist and pulling her close to me.

"You know... lousy conversation, but the sex was great!" Spencer shrugged and kissed me.

"That's not funny."

She wrapped her arms around my neck loosely and grinned into kissing me. "It was a little funny." She giggled and ran past me towards my room, stopping just before the closed door. "It was great, Megan is always fun. We're going to see a Riptide game while she's in town, you want to join?"

"As much as I enjoy watching girls run around with short skirts, I think I'll pass."

"Well how about after I come home after and run around in one for you." She winked at me and threw her butt out. "But first, how about that little surprise you promised me?" Spencer chimed, rubbing her hands together and jumping.

"Fine..." I sighed out loudly as the blonde continued to jump up and down in excitement in front of me. "Go wait in my room and I'll go get it."

She opened the door and screamed as I ran back behind her to see her jumping up and down. "Kyla?" Oh my god!"

"Surprise!" Kyla yelled, opening her arms wide as Spencer immediately jumped into them and screeched.

"What are you doing here Ky?" Spencer screamed, scrunching her face into Kyla's as they hugged even tighter. I could only stare and smile as the two girls hugged, both with huge smiles on their faces.

"Ashley flew me down for your graduation, not that your best friend would miss it for the world." Kyla pointed at me, making Spencer turn around to see me standing in the doorway.

"Ash, you are seriously the best."

"Anything to make my girl happy." I chimed, as the blonde ran into my arms and gave me a hard kiss. "Which means giving tonight up so my girlfriend can enjoy a night out with her best friend."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, go have fun." I nodded, smiling as I leaned my forehead against hers and scrunched my nose. "I'll go have some quality best friend time myself."

"I love you."

"You better, now go have fun." I winked and swatted her ass as she smiled and quickly kissed me before she and Kyla ran out of my room and eventually my place.

--------------------------------

"Well it looks like it's just you and me for tonight, Aly." I commented, flopping back down on the couch as Alexis continued to watch True Blood on the television. "Hey, you in there?" I asked, waving my hand in front of the girl who was in a trance or daze.

"Sorry, Ash. I was just thinking."

"Aly, you have to stop analysing this whole situation with Jordan and Cameron, you're stressing yourself out _way_ too much."

"Cameron just called... he said he wants to talk so he's coming over."

"Oh. Is that good?"

Her head collapsed into her hands as Alexis sighed out loudly. "God, I don't know... I'm so confused about the two of them. I wish someone else could just choose for me. Who do you think--"

"Aly, you know you're the only one who can answer that..." I heard a knock at the door a moment later which sparked Alexis' attention. "You sit tight, I'll grab it." I patted her on the thigh lightly as I got up and went to answer the door, opening it up to Cameron in the doorway.

"Hey Ash, Aly in?"

"Yeah, come on in." I moved out of the way slightly, gesturing him inside. "I'll be back in an hour, don't hurt her Cam. She's really vulnerable right now." I told him firmly, as I grabbed my keys from the counter and slipped out as Cameron walked in.

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

"Hey, thanks for letting me see you." Cameron said, sitting down on the couch beside me and putting one leg up as he faced me. "I know things have been kind of awkward since Jordan found out about our past."

"Does he know you're here?" I asked, not having the guts to look him in the eyes yet. I wasn't sure what I would do if I did.

"No, he went straight home after we got back. He hasn't really talked to me since that day, well anyone really."

"Yeah me included." I scoffed and hold my hands covering my face again, trying not to cry in front of Cameron.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, Lexi." He comforted me, taking my hand and rubbing it softly. He cupped my face tenderly with his hand and began caressing my cheek with his thumb. "Lexi..." He softly whispered, staring at me with more compassionate eyes that I had ever seen on him.

"I'm sorry Cameron. I can't." I breathed out, barely being able to say it. I didn't have the strength to remove his hands from my face myself as all my energy went into trying to get out what I needed to say. "I can't do this to Jordan, I love him."

"You really love him?" He repeated, his head falling as he took a step back from me, lowering his hands from my face.

"I do... and as hard as it is to ignore what is still obviously here with us, I'm with him, and I can't--I can't be that person, I won't."

"Well I guess I'll have to respect your choice then, even if it isn't the one I want it to be. But I want you to know that I'll always be here if you need me, Lexi. Whatever you want us to be... I'll be here."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	8. Pictures of You

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 8 – Pictures of You_

_**A few weeks later...**_

**Spencer's POV**

"I can't believe you have so much stuff, Ash." I hissed, picking up box after box from the truck and taking them to the corresponding rooms. "I think you own five times the amount of stuff I do."

Ashley following me inside with her own sets of boxes in her hands, grinned at me. "I don't like throwing things out... I have too many memories with everything."

"Oh yeah... this stuff is just full of memories." I laughed, holding up a dirty, rugged stuffed animal that looked like it had been run over by a truck, several times and then maybe stomped on.

"You do realize more than half of this stuff has to do with memories with you..."

"What? No way." I scoffed, throwing the animal at her face as I surveyed the rest of the stuff scattered around the room.

"Uh... exhibit a." Ashley laughed, throwing the stuffed animal to the side and holding up a picture frame.

I grabbed it out of her hands and looked closer to see a picture of me sleeping naked in Ashley's dorm. "Hey! When did you take this?"

"Uh, obviously when you were sleeping..." Ashley snatched back the picture and glided her one hand over it and smiled. "I told you, you're so adorable when you sleep, so peaceful and beautiful."

"So you took an actual picture? You are such a creep!" I yelled at the girl, shaking my head as I stood there with my hands on my hips as the brunette giddily nodded. "How come I've never seen this until now?"

Ashley dropped her head and began fiddling with her hands. "I kind of hid it from you whenever you would come over..." She blushed as she looked up at me who had crossed my arms, unimpressed.

"Ashley!"

"What... you thought me staring at you while you're sleeping was creepy, well...taking a picture is so much worse." She rolled her eyes and laughed at me as I stood there still with my arms crossed and a less than impressed look on my face.

"Then why did you show me it now?" I asked, yanking the picture frame back and scowling at Ashley playfully, shaking my head as I glanced down at the picture again.

"Well you'd see it sooner or later... now that we're living together. It'd kind of be hard to hide it in my bedside table from you."

"You hid it in your bedside table? Great... so I'm like your porno magazine you had as a teenager that you hid underneath your bed..."

"No, of course not. You're better, I get to take you home." Ashley grinned, scrunching her nose like I loved so much as she brought me slowly into her arms. "I'm sorry, if it's that big of a deal, I can get rid of it."

"No, no... you can keep it." I rolled my eyes, and waved my hand, brushing it off, kissing her nose lightly before putting an evil smirk on my face. "But I'm just going to have to snap one of you when you're sleeping." I winked and patted her ass before we ran back outside to get more boxes.

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

"Are you sure you're okay with this? After everything, isn't it kind of weird?" I asked Jordan as we waited outside our favourite restaurant.

He threw his arm around my shoulder and tightened the grip. "Aly, it's perfectly fine. He even suggested it himself, so just relax... tonight will be fine." Jordan responded, lifting my chin and kissing me tenderly.

As soon as I saw Cameron walking around to the other side of the car and held the girl out, my face frozen. The black raven-haired girl that was all too familiar, even though I never met her in person: Logan.

Before I knew it, my feet were moving alongside Jordan's as he waved at the two and stuck his hand out for the girl when we got close enough. "Hi, I'm Jordan."

"Logan, nice to meet you." She happily shook his hand, throwing him this huge smile and head tilt before glancing to me and offering her hand.

"Alexis." I said bluntly, hopefully not being too obvious to my disliking to the girl around. I could only stare up at Cameron with fiery eyes. The one girl he would bring tonight, and it was her. The one to remind of me the past, of everything...

"Wait. Not the same--" She had a puzzled look on her face as she quickly turned to Cameron for the answer.

"The one in the same..." I threw my hands up in the air, rolling my eyes at the girl standing in front of me attached to Cameron's arm.

"I'm sorry, Cameron didn't tell me that we were doubling with you tonight." She apologized almost sincerely enough that I believed her as Cameron just stood there silent.

"Wait, please do not tell me you're from the same high school too?" Jordan asked, shaking his head and laughing softly to himself. "I don't think it's possible for any more of you guys to show up."

"Well...technically I left senior year, but if it makes you feel any better, Cameron and I have known each other our whole lives so we don't just know each other from high school."

"Is there any more of you I should be informed of before they pop up?" Jordan asked with a chuckle as he threw his arm around my shoulder and led us towards the restaurant.

We eventually made our way into the restaurant, grabbing a table near the back so we had more privacy. I excused myself to the washroom so I could cool down and try to regain my emotions after discovering Logan was Cameron's date. I couldn't believe that Cameron would even consider bringing her, especially after everything that had recently happened with us.

When I walked back out of the washroom, Cameron was standing against the wall, obviously waiting for me.

"I saw your face when you saw Logan and I know what you're probably thinking, but I'm telling you right now that it's not what you think."

"Save it Cameron, you knew what you were doing when you brought Logan here tonight, the _one_ person who would remind me of our past."

"Yeah, you're right, I did. But, she's also the _only_ person who I know would understand. How fair is it to string along a random girl when I'm not interested? With Logan, she knows and understands our history and she knows that I'm not expecting anything with her. I just asked her out tonight as a friend... to keep up appearances with Jordan."

"So what are you saying Cameron?"

Cameron glanced down at his feet before he slightly moved towards me, raising his head and looking me in the eyes, sighing out softly. "I'm saying I'm not giving up on you, and if what you need to see is that I'll be here, then I'll be here."

--------------------------------

**Ashley's POV**

"Aly! You home? I forgot to grab--" I opened the door to my old place and yelled across the place. I walked in further to see a blonde girl lounging on the sofa, and turn her head. "Casey? What the hell are you doing in my house?"

"Nice seeing you too, Ashley." Casey smugly answered, sitting up on the couch and throwing her arms over it, smiling at me. "And to answer your lovely question, I believe you moved out..."

"So _you _are the--"

"The new roommate, yes." She nodded, throwing her legs up on the coffee table in front of her and devilishly giggling in such a low volume, I almost couldn't hear it.

"B-but how?"

Apparently, she thought my confusion was in need of her coming closer as Casey began walking over to me. "Apparently you don't talk about your work with your best friend, I'm quite disappointed, Davies." Her face was close to mine, only a single movement and our lips would be touching. "By the way, Alexis isn't here."

I backed up feeling uncomfortable with the proximity and shook my head at the blonde who was seductively smiling at me. "I'm sorry... talking about annoying brats at work is normally top on my conversation list with my friends." I spat out sarcastically. "How did you even convince Aly to be her roommate?"

"It seems we have more than a couple things in common." Casey looked me up and down while licking her lips blatantly in front of me. "That and I can be _very_ nice when I want to be..." She bit her lower lip and seductively stared at me while brushing her hand off my shoulder over and over.

I grabbed her hand aggressively and put it back down at her side. "Right... when you want something, and I'm telling you right now that this _something _isn't interested."

"Why else would you care so much about me and my music?" Casey stumbled back and threw her head up a bit in confusion, quirking her eyebrow and crossing her arms across her chest.

"Hm... let me think, it's my job to. And maybe because you have Devon wrapped so tightly around your finger that he forced me to be nice to you..."

"Devon is irrelevant in this matter. He doesn't have to make you do anything... being nice and caring isn't in your job description, making good music is. "

"Fine, you're right, I want you Casey, I want you _so _unbelievably bad. I don't know how I can resist you..." I said in a monotone voice, rolling my eyes and throwing my hands in the air. "There, are you happy?"

"I would've liked it in a different tone, but it still works for me." She smiled and stepped closer to me again, glancing down at my lips as she bit her lower one.

"How did you even know that Alexis was my roommate?"

"I didn't until I walked in and saw this." She grabbed a picture frame off of the mantle and held it up. It was the picture of me in a light blue parka, covered in snow. The one Spencer took me of at Christmas when I first came back with her to Ohio for winter break. "You're _very_ adorable in that parka, but I prefer you in less clothes."

"Thank you, that's what I came for." I snatched it out of her hands quickly. "Which means I can leave. I'll see you in the studio, Casey."

"Come on, I'm not going to bite..._hard_. Alexis is out with her boyfriend... you might as well spend a Friday night with someone."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	9. Why Can't You

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 9 – Why Can't You_

**Ashley's POV**

I felt my back hit the soft surface of my bed and Spencer's body immediately covered my own. "First night at our new place--" I whispered as Spencer's hair brushed my shoulders as she leaned in towards me. I felt her hands quickly on my hips, squeezing lustfully as our lips fell into a kiss, long and full of desire.

"Let me guess, you want to 'break it in'?" Spencer lifted herself up above me and quirked her eyebrow, smirking devilish as all I could only blush and nod at the blonde.

"Your words not mine."

"Uh huh... well you were at least thinking it."

I flipped her on her back as I could only sinisterly chuckle, sliding my leg between hers and applying pressure as I continued to explore her mouth with my tongue, her hands now tangling in my hair as she let out a soft moan into my mouth. "Well, what can I say, you're just so addictive."

I reached down to undo her pants just as the doorbell rang. I sighed out loudly, pounding the bed firmly, glancing down at the disappointed blonde before I quickly jumped out of bed, threw on a sweater and grabbed the door, opening it to see Alexis.

"Aly? What's wrong?" I asked frantically as Alexis stood in our doorway, looking like she had been crying her eyes out.

"I just got a call from Jordan..." Alexis mumbled, stumbling into my house as I opened the door wider for her. Her shirt looked like her makeup had been smeared all over it from her face and her hair was all tangled and messy. She dropped her phone on the ground as she collapsed on the couch in my living room, crawling up into a tiny ball.

I ran up behind her, trying to catch her as she fell hard on the sofa, but unable to stop the force of her body from hitting the surface. "What is it, Aly?" I joined her, pulling the stray hair out of her face that had fallen and picking her up from the fetal position and throwing my arm around her shoulder. Her body trembled as I wrapped my arm around her and I could feel shivers go through her weak body.

"He's being traded to the Pacers." Her hands fell to her face and she began to sob again. "Indiana, Ash... Indiana."

"I'm so sorry..." I pulled her tight into an embrace and let her head rest on my shoulder as she continued to unravel. Her tears were now soaking through my sweater, but I wasn't going to let her go out of my grasp. She was so delicate in this moment, and I wasn't going to let her fall and shatter. "What are you going to do?"

"I have no clue. He couldn't talk very long, he just called and told me and then he had to go..." Her voice was all nasally, obviously stuffed up from crying as she nuzzled her head into my shoulder deeper, wiping her eyes against the material in my sweater. "And then as I could pull myself together, I drove over here. I just don't know what to do..."

"Hey Ash, what's taking so lo--" Spencer came running down the stairs and into the living room, seeing Alexis crying and upset as soon as she came in." Oh, hey Alexis...what's wrong?"

"Jordan's being traded to Indiana..." I whispered to her as I continued to rub Alexis' back and comfort her.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Aly." Spencer collapsed on the ground in front of Alexis, placing her hands on her thighs. I could even see the heartbreak in her blue eyes as I stroked Alexis' hair, trying to stop her crying. I had to resist from smiling as Spencer was wearing close to nothing, expecting that I was coming right back upstairs to continue where we left off after I answered the door. "Why don't we take her upstairs? The extra bedroom is already set up and I don't want her being alone when she's a wreck like this." Spencer whispered to me as she continued rubbing Alexis' legs.

"I'm sorry you guys, I don't know why I'm being so emotional over this." Her voice was still weak as she spoke, only lifting her head slightly to do so before it fell back down on my shoulder out of exhaustion.

"Aly, don't worry about us, okay?" I cupped her face gently and leaned my head against hers. "Spence and I are fine, we are just worried about you right now."

"Do you need help getting her upstairs?" Spencer asked me quietly as Alexis' eyes started getting droopier and droopier and her cries had started to become faint, being replaced with more sniffles than actual tears. I shook my head as I slowly readjusted myself so I could get a firm hold of Alexis before I picked her up. Spencer grabbed Alexis' phone off the ground and followed me up the stairs and to the guest bedroom where I put down Alexis.

"Just try to get some sleep... we'll be in the next room over if you need us." I whispered as I threw the comforter over Alexis and she curled up into a ball. She looked so helpless lying there, shivering a bit as she closed her eyes slowly.

"We can talk more in the morning if you want." Spencer whispered as she moved some stray hair from out of Alexis' face and kissed her forehead sweetly. "Everything's going to be alright, Aly."

We closed the door quietly behind us as we left Alexis alone in the guest bedroom and slowly walked back to ours.

I looked at Spencer, taking her hand tenderly as I brought her closer to me. She weakly smiled at me as I leaned my forehead against hers and pouted. "Looks like breaking in the new place is going to have to wait for another night."

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

By morning I was feeling a lot better, and after a short argument, I had Ashley drop me off back at my apartment. She insisted that she stay with me for the day, but I won that argument too, saying I'd rather be alone to think things through. This whole situation had me on edge and had my emotions ruining rapid, it was nerve wracking and it was even worse that I hadn't talked to Jordan fully about it.

I heard a knock on the door, hoping it would be Jordan coming over to talk, I ran to the door and opened it up eagerly.

"Cameron." My heart unexpectedly jumped a bit as I stared at the blonde standing in my doorway. I gestured him inside with my eyes and hands and closed the door behind him once he had entered. "What are you doing here?"

He threw off his jacket and placed it neatly over the back of the couch before he sat down. I followed and sat down beside him on the couch. "I came over to check on you. I heard about the trade... I'm really sorry, Lexi. Are you alright?" His voice was quiet and soft, one that I hadn't heard in a long time from him.

"Thanks for coming Cameron." I smiled and took his hand, squeezing it gently so he knew I meant it. "I'm alright, just trying to not think about it as much right now. You're probably happy Jordan's leaving."

I felt him pull his hand back from mine. "That's not fair, Jordan is still my friend, Lexi." His voice was no longer quiet and soft and I could tell by his dark eyes that he was offended by my comment. "And even though yes, I'm glad he's leaving because of you, I'm still losing a good friend and teammate. Have you talked to him about yet?"

"Only shortly on the phone, nothing about what we plan to do..."

"Did you want to stay together?"

My head popped up and I stared at him like he was crazy. "Cameron, you can't ask me that. You know that's not fair for _you_ to ask me." Everything probably would've been fine if my emotions didn't decide to be such a pain in my ass lately. For some reason, just the thought of Cameron asking me that question, made my eyes began to tear and by tear I mean sob. "Cameron..." I sighed, dropping my gaze from him as he moved closer to me and tightly embraced me. When I thought about talking to anyone about this, he would probably be the second person after Ashley, and yet I couldn't talk to him about this. I resisted at first, but I found my arms falling around him tightly as well. And the next thing I know, I have my head nuzzled into his chest and my eyes closed, overwhelmed with the feeling of being back in his arms. I tried to stop crying, but it was impossible to stop especially once his arms were wrapped around my body, it felt like I _had_ to cry.

"Why can't you just say it, Aly?" Cameron whispered as he leaned his head the top of mine as he held me tighter. I could feel him breathing out as his heart rate began pumping quicker, almost matching the speed my own heart was racing. "I know you're feeling it."

"Why can't you?"

He pulled me away from him gently, although keeping his arms on my shoulders as he looked straight into my eyes, no hesitation or fear behind them. "Fine, I'll say it..." He blinked slowly and took in a big breathe, pausing for a second, but still not faltering with his eye contact with mine. "You still love me."

"Well you still love me too." A weak smile appeared on my face as blue eyes stared back at me with such confidence and desire. I felt his hands on my face, wiping away the tears that had fallen in the process and he pulled me back in tighter, resting his chin on the top of my head as we both let out deep sighs. "God, why does this have to be so hard?" I yelled out of frustration as my mind drifted back to the situation... to Jordan. "I don't want him to go, but _this_..." I touched his chest with my hand softly as I glanced up at him. "This just feels so--"

"Right?" He took the words right out of my mouth as I closed my eyes and tried to regain my tears again, my head falling against his chest lightly.

I took in the silence of the moment that lingered around us as we stayed content in each other's arms. In this moment, no more words needed to be said, and although my mind was running rapidly about the situation with Jordan, all I could do was enjoy being in Cameron's arms.

--------------------------------

"Hey babe."

I could barely look at him as he walked in, weakly smiling, but smiling at that, not after what I planned on doing. Cameron had left a few hours ago, thankfully, so it wouldn't be as hard with him not right beside me. "Hey..." I barely whispered, as he kissed me on forehead and took my hand, walking me over to the couch.

"So I've been thinking about this whole thing," Jordan smiled at me, tilting my chin upwards and grazing my lips ever so gently before kissing me. "And just because I'm leaving, doesn't mean I'm letting you go Aly. We can do this..." He pulled me into his body, wrapping his arms around me securely as he kissed the top of my head.

Comparing the feeling between being in Jordan's arms and what it felt like being in Cameron's arms earlier sealed it in my mind that I was making the right choice. There was no comparison between the two and the way it made me feel. Yes, I felt safe in Jordan's arms, but I didn't feel that electrical surge that I did when I was wrapped in Cameron's.

"I've been thinking about it too, Jordan." I sighed out loudly as each word was getting harder for me to say. Each syllable falling off my tongue felt like it weighed like a brick. "I don't know if _I_ can still do this... Indiana is just so far away."

"You don't want to try and make it work?" His face went cold as he slowly took my hand. Queue the sound of his heart beginning to break. "Why don't you come with me?" I could hear the desperateness in his voice and eyes as he stared at me.

"I can't just get up and move, my life is here, my friends and work. And even if I come visit, it would never be for very long or often since you're travelling so much with the team."

He dropped my hand and gaze, looking the opposite direction of me as his body language became stiff and distant. "This is about Cameron, isn't it?"

"I never cheated on you, Jordan. I want you to know that I did stay true to you..." I kept my voice calm, trying not to end this is a screaming match. I didn't want to end it like that. I took a big breathe, taking his hand in mine and kissing it lightly before holding it to my heart. "But my heart... it's always been with him. I just didn't realize it until now."

"So that's it?" He asked and all I could do was nod, no more words were able to be said.

--------------------------------

**Ashley's POV**

"Why can't you just admit that there's something between us?" Casey husked, as she moved even closer to me, gliding her hand up my arm and caressing it lightly. She had pulled me aggressively out of the studio into the back room after I had stopped her mid song because she messed up. She threw me quite forcefully against the wall and had walked swiftly over to me so I couldn't escape.

The feeling did nothing for me as I swatted her hand away. "Because there isn't anything to admit to, other than that I love my girlfriend, _very _much."

"Ah right, the girlfriend, funny how only now you mention her..." She smugly smirked, backing away just a bit, but remaining an arm's length away.

"Only now? It's not like we have 'get-to-know-each-other' chit chats, Casey. Normally our 'relationship' involves it's me yelling at you, and you screaming back."

"I think that's what they call sexual tension..." She was back in my face, so close that I could feel her balanced breathing on my face. I stood there unfazed by any of her movements towards me, just standing there completely still as her face maintained its closeness. Moving away would only make her come at me more, so I decided to stand my ground.

"No, that's what they call you being a spoiled brat and me trying to do my job, and I can't keep working with you if you're going to act like this."

Casey rolled her eyes and laughed, still maintaining a close proximity. "You don't have a choice Ashley, Devon will never take you off this album. And you love music too much to quit over one _spoiled brat_."

I could feel the words as she spoke them slow and rolled them off her tongue that flickered out afterwards, almost grazing my lips. "Casey."

Her name being called only elicited a small chuckle from the blonde who looked me up and down and licked her lips seductively before my eyes. "Did you tell your little girlfriend about Friday night?"

Before I knew it, she had me pinned hard against the wall with her lips aggressively on mine. Like I said before, the feeling did nothing for me, her lips were nothing like the feel of Spencer's as I pushed her off of me. I went to go yell at her as I heard the door to the studio being slammed closed hard and quickly turned my head to see a blonde figure dashing out, a blonde figure that I could recognize from any distance... Spencer.

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A/N: So the chapter was heavily based on Alexis, but I felt I needed to do the situation between her, Jordon and Cameron some justice before I got into the juicy drama with Spashley.

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	10. Love and the Games We Play

New chapter. Sorry it came later than usual... I've been busy and haven't been in the mood for much writing... but here it is.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 10 – Love and the Games We Play_

**Ashley's POV**

I saw Spencer running out of the studio, faster than I've ever seen her run before. I'm about to run after her as I feel a hand on my shoulder, turning around I find Casey standing there smiling at me. "What the hell was that, Casey?" I screamed at her, poking her in the collarbone aggressively and pushing her back away from me. "Don't you _ever_ do that again, you hear me!" I screamed even louder that it got Nate and the rest of the production team's attention in the studio.

"Ashley, you totally enjoyed it." The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes and waving politely at the onlookers, who turned around quickly out of embarrassment that they had been caught looking. "And don't even try to deny what happened Friday."

"Did I kiss you back right now? No, so don't you dare think that I even remotely enjoyed that." I pushed her back further again. "And as for Friday night, _nothing_ happened. I fell asleep while watching your boring ass documentary and when I woke up, you were all over me, not the other way around." My face was red with outrage as the young blonde put her hands up and slowly backed away from me. "I'm not going to put up with this anymore, you do that again and I will go to Devon."

"You won't go to Devon, you don't have the balls. And you know as soon as he comes to me with the problem, he'll take my side. He _always _takes my side." Casey smugly laughed as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "You're too predictable Ashley. That's what made this so easy."

"What did you just say?" My head popped up and immediately stepped closer to the girl, staring at her intensely as she continued to smirk like she had this whole thing planned.

"Playing with you... it was too easy and finding Alexis' ad for a new roommate in the paper was just icing on the cake. And then I come here, and you fall right into my plan, making it go perfectly." The girl chuckles as I stand there speechless and confused. I have no clue what she's talking about, all I know is that it's not good. "Even now you still don't understand. Well... let me enlighten you on my perfect plan. You stand your ground when I move in closer to make me think that I don't scare or intimidate you because you know stepping back will only make me pursue you more." The blonde started walking, circling me as she leaned in to my face. "But that's just what I wanted you to do." She laughed and continued to walk around me as I stood there, unable to move. "You see, what would the point of me inviting Spencer out for lunch with you today if we weren't in an _intimate_ position for her to catch us in."

"You fucking bitch!"

"Now that's not very nice... calling me a name like that." Casey devilishly laughed as she stopped walking right in front of me, rubbing her hands together as she gave me a malicious grin. "Plus you're interrupting me before I finish my story."

"I'm going to kill you!" I yelled, thrusting myself forward at the girl and gripping my hands tightly around her neck. "How dare you?"

"You're not even letting me get to the best part." She coughed out as my hands tightened around her neck. "It's funny really, you'll definitely have a laugh about it."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" I asked, releasing my grip just a bit so the girl could talk.

"You're _still_ standing here, arguing with me that it doesn't mean anything, trying to choke me to death, when your girlfriend is running as far as she can from you right now. Shouldn't you be... I don't know, chasing after her, you know, if there's nothing going on between the two of us."

"There's _nothing_ going on between the two of us, and that's the last time I'm ever going to say that. You're nothing like Spencer." I yelled, letting go of my grip around the girl's neck and taking a step back from her as she smirked and rubbed her neck.

"You're right, I'm not, I'm like you... you'd do the exact same thing if you were in my position."

"Fuck you." I spat out at the girl, pointing at her face harshly before I turned in the other direction.

"See, I told you that you wanted me." She laughed out as I opened the door to the studio and stormed out, everyone in the studio giving me weird looks as rushed past them to the outer doors.

--------------------------------

**Spencer's POV**

All I could do was run, even when my feet were telling me I couldn't anymore, all I could do was run, away from her and the pain in my heart. The moment I saw them together, it felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest, like I couldn't breathe.

I ended up outside Ashley and my new house, I can't believe I ran this far, but I just couldn't stop. My feet were burning from the pain, but I just didn't care. I stormed into the house, tossing my bag down as soon as I got inside, not caring where it landed as I fell down onto my bed and wept. Wept and wept, until even my eyes were sore that they eventually closed and I fell asleep.

I was awoken by the slamming of the door, accompanied by the frantic voice of Ashley.

"Oh my god, Spencer, there you are." She gasped, running towards me and running into my arms. She hugged me hard as my arms stayed at my side and I slowly pushed her away, glancing up at her and showing no emotion in my face, at least no happy emotions. "I am _so_ sorry, please let me explain."

"What is there to explain, Ashley. I saw you. I saw you kissing her."

Her face dropped as I stepped away from her further. "It's not what it looked like, Casey... s-she set it all up. She told you to come so you would see us like _that_."

"Oh yeah Ashley? Well how did you get like that then? Did she just magically fall into your face or trip or something?"

"Spencer--"

"No, there's nothing you can that won't make me believe what I saw there, that you were cheating on me."

"If I wanted to cheat on you, why would I buy this...?" Ashley asked angrily, pulling a tiny box out of her purse and holding it out in front of me. "Why would I cheat if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, if I didn't want to be with _you_, if I didn't love _you_, Spencer."

I was speechless, and very much thrown back. I assumed that she was going to pop the question, but I was never positive and the fact that she was holding it out in front of me just made me even more speechless. "Ashley...I-I..." I could barely get out those two words as I slowly grabbed the box out of her hands. I think it threw her off as when I glanced up at her, she had this confused look in her eyes. I didn't open the box, I just held it in my palm, gazing at it, examining it.

"I was going to ask you the night I took you out after your last class..." I heard her voice shake with nervousness.

"Ashley, this doesn't change anything." I spoke slowly, holding up the box. "This, this ring, doesn't mean anything after what I saw."

"How can that not mean anything to you...?"

"Because you didn't ask me, and I know you were nervous then, but you didn't do it in the end. And now with what I saw today, it all just makes sense why you didn't." I threw the box back into her hand and looked at her expectantly to respond, but she didn't. She just stood there, with her face down, too horribly embarrassed to say anything.

"I swear Spencer, it was nothing." She whispered finally as she moved closer to me, capturing my face with her two palms.

"I didn't look like nothing." I pulled her hands from my face and dropped them to her side. "She's young, blonde, blue eyes, you even share a love for music--"

"And she's still not the one I want when I come home at night. She's not, and never will be you, Spencer. She may be attracted to me, but there's nothing that I'm attracted to in her. I told you three years ago that you're _it_ for me, and you know what's changed from now? Nothing. You're still, and forever will be, _it_ for me, Spencer. Please don't let that change for you."

I dropped my head and covered it with one hand as I stumbled back, away from Ashley. I couldn't stand being that closer to her. "I'm sorry, I don't know if I can do this after seeing that... seeing you two like that."

"I pushed her away, you just had turned your back before you could see it."

"She shouldn't have been close enough to kiss you in the first place, Ashley!"

"She likes to play games, that's all I thought she was doing...Casey planned on you seeing us."

"Yeah, well I don't like _playing_ games, not when my feelings are especially when I just moved in with someone, I _thought_ I could trust... all to find out it was just some big mistake."

"You don't mean that." She pleaded, throwing her hands back up on my face and leaning her forehead against mine, desperate for any reaction remotely passionate out of me.

"I can't." I pushed her away again, struggling to let her go. "I-I just can't." I cried out, turning my face away from her. "I just need--"

"Please don't say time and space..."

"To figure stuff out..."

"Without me?"

"Without you, Ash." I glanced back up at her with the same broken eyes she was giving me. Before I could say anything else, Ashley darted out of the house, hands covering her face as I could see the tears falling.

--------------------------------

**Alexis' POV**

I opened the door to see my best friend, soaking wet, either from the rain or from the tears rolling down her face. Probably both. "Ashley?" I rushed to her side, grabbing her shivering body and throwing my arms around her.

"Hey, so I know you're kind of going through a lot right now, but I was wondering if I could crash here for the night?"

"Uh--"

"Spencer and I got into a fight, and needless to say, I need a place to stay."

"Oh... yeah, sure." I mumbled as I was more than thrown off guard by my crying best friend in front of me. "You know you're always welcome here, Ash."

"Thanks, Aly..." She mumbled as I helped her walk in. "Is Casey here?"

"Yeah, but she's asleep in her room, why?" I nodded as I led her to my bedroom and started helping her out of her drenched clothes.

"I need to talk to you about something..."

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	11. Run To You

GAH! The site was being major dumb for the last two days... thankfully it finally is starting to cooperate.

Sorry for the lack of updates, I had a final exam to study for...(gah tomorrow!) and I planned on updating before this, but I never got around to writing this story. Anyways here's a small new chapter to tie you over. I know some of you are like "what the hell?" with Spencer's reaction to the _simple_ kiss, but it's going to be a little bit more justified in this chapter... I hope.

Enjoy.

R & R.

Chapter title inspired by Bryan Adam's song.

_Chapter 11 – Run To You_

**Ashley's POV**

I woke up with the most unbelievably sore eyes I have ever felt in my life. I ended up falling asleep when Alexis carried me to her bedroom, passing out as soon as my head hit the soft mattress. I probably wouldn't have been able to get out much anyways considering I was unable to stop the tears from pouring down my face, hence the sore eyes this morning.

"So do you want to talk about what happened?" Alexis asked softly, as she reappeared in the room. She sat down beside me on the bed, rubbing my head and pushing some stray pieces of hair out of my face. "Or did you just want to hug my pillow some more?" Her hand moved to my back and began rubbing as I clenched the pillow harder, bringing my face even deeper into it.

I let go of the pillow and sat up, keeping my weight on my hands that were positioned behind me. "Spencer kind of walked in on Casey kissing me." I sighed as my head dropped, as the situation replayed in my mind all over again. "Which by the way, is the same Casey that is sleeping in the other room."

"Excuse me?"

"Casey... your roommate, she's the same Casey that I'm helping produce, the same one who's been a pain in my ass in the studio and has been making advances on me as of early last week. And yesterday, Spencer came to the studio and saw Casey kissing me."

Alexis' mouth opened and her eyes widened as she took in the information. "My new roommate? But Casey said she didn't know you..."

"She lied."

"Whoa, why were you kissing _her_?" Alexis' face went confused and her eyes squinted before shooting straight open a minute later. "Wait, are you cheating on Spencer?"

"How could you even ask me that, Aly! Of course not! Casey caught me off guard and leaned in and kissed me at the same time Spencer walked in to the studio. It was completely the worst timing ever, and Spencer ran away before she saw me push Casey off so she thinks that it was mutual, but it wasn't... at all."

"O-okay..." Alexis readjusted on the bed as her face looked like it was a bit taken back. "So, did you tell Spencer that? That it wasn't mutual and Casey just like attacked you with her lips?"

"I tried, but you know how I am in situations like this. I can barely get out what I want to say, I just kept telling her that I loved her, but she wouldn't have it. I've never seen her like this before... It's not like her to react so intensely to something like this, like yes... it's bad, but it's not _bad_."

"I feel like I should probably mention to you that Spencer called me last night after you fell asleep."

"Wait, what? Why didn't you wake me up? W-what did she say?" I asked frantically, jumping up quickly as my eyes widened at the girl.

"Relax, relax, she just wanted to make sure you were here and safe, and not out somewhere wandering around in harm's way. But I do think you need to go talk to her, Ash. She sounded really worried. She had definitely been crying."

I fell back on the bed, letting out a deep sigh. "I don't know Aly, she said she needed to 'figure stuff out'. Figure stuff out..." I scoffed, and rolled my eyes, using air quotes to emphasize the ridiculousness of the comment. "I just don't understand, if she loves me and I love her... What's there exactly to figure out?"

"I know this may be a shock to you, but love doesn't _fix_ everything, Ashley. I know in your little 'Spencer' world, it might, but in the _real _world, things don't work that way. Maybe she just needed time to wrap herself around the situation and cool down. I doubt Spencer would react like this for just a simple kiss... especially that wasn't even mutual. Go talk to her, sort things out, and become the old married couple everyone has grown to love again... You can't fix things if you aren't there to fix them."

"I don't know...."

"This isn't the time to be _thee_ Ashley Davies."

"What does that mean?" I asked harshly, raising my head and giving Alexis a stern look. She rolled her eyes as she shifted on the bed, crossing her legs so she was sitting Indian style.

"It _means_ that every time something gets too complicated or too hard and you can't deal, you leave. You grab your shoes and you book it, as fast as you can, away from the problem. So please, don't. Go and talk to her."

"But--"

"You and Spencer do not function properly apart... you never have, and you never will. You are a mess right now, and I guarantee you that Spencer is exactly the same, if not worse. Like you said, she loves you and you love her. Go figure it out together."

I rubbed my forehead as I sat back up, looking at Alexis who had an expectant look on her face. "Is Casey here?"

"She left early this morning... said something about running errands, so you're in the clear."

"Thanks, Alexis, for everything."

"Well what are best friends for if not to be the shoulder to cry on when you screw up with your girlfriend." She smiled and pulled me into an embrace.

"I mean it, thank you." I gripped her hand firmly, throwing her a weak smile before I ran out of the apartment, not even checking at what I looked like as I headed back over to Spencer, back to my girl. I wasn't running away this time, I was running back, back to her.

--------------------------------

**Spencer's POV**

I had spent the whole morning just lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. I cried all last night, and it was ridiculously hard trying to contain it when I called Alexis to make sure Ashley was over at her place safe. It was hard since I couldn't escape her, she was everywhere, she was my everything. This house reminded me of her, and us so I just laid in my bed, not moving and trying to make everything around me stop. I _tried_.

I don't know why I reacted the way I did last night when Ashley came over, I mean, I shouldn't have, but I just couldn't stop the words from coming out, even if I didn't mean them. Of course I didn't mean them... I just wish Ashley knew that.

A knock on my door made me have to leave the stillness of my room.

"Ashley." My voice hitched as I opened the door and my eyes widened, seeing the brunette in front of me looking like a complete mess. It looked like she hadn't showered or even looked at herself after getting up this morning. Her eyes were puffy and red, most likely from crying as much as I did last night and maybe because of being sleep deprived.

"Hi, can we talk? I know you said you wanted some time to figure stuff out, but Aly told me you called last night and I just thought that maybe we could figure it out, you know... together."

"Ashley..." I breathed out loudly, bringing my hand to my face as it dropped. I didn't really know what to say to her, it's not like I exactly expected her to come over this morning.

"Okay, I get it. I'll just go." I heard Ashley's voice go weak and as I peered up at her, she had turned to leave. I didn't know what to say, but I knew that I didn't want her walking away. Even if we would sit here in silence, she would still be _here._

I grabbed her wrist before she waivered too far away, making her head turn back towards me. "Don't." It was all I could get out, but with a weak smile, Ashley abruptly swung back around and embraced me in a tight hug. It threw me off guard, but I still felt my arms being thrown around her and tightening around her body as well, and before I knew it, we both were crying in my doorway.

"Ashley."

"Spencer, I'm so sor--."

My hand covered her mouth, cutting her off before she could finish. I didn't need her apologizing again, nor did I want her to. "No, Ash. This time, I _am_ sorry. You know I want to be with you Ashley, but you have no idea how painful it was seeing you with someone else. I don't like feeling jealous, and I don't like seeing my girlfriend's lips attached to anyone's but mine. But I shouldn't have reacted that way and I'm sorry... i-it's just that...I-I... I just shouldn't have reacted that way." I turned my head away in embarrassment, unable to look Ashley in the face.

I felt her hand under my chin as she slowly brought my face up to hers. "Is everything alright? You're stuttering quite a bit, and your body is shaking more than normal."

"Before I came to the studio yesterday... s-something happened... at work." My voice was hardly audible as I was trying to get out the words. My throat was completely dry and it felt like sandpaper as I tried to talk, ripping down with every syllable coming out.

"What do you mean by _something, _Spencer? What happened?" Ashley pulled me into the house and closed the door behind us, her hands firmly on each of my shoulders as she stared straight into my eyes. They conveyed so much worry, but all I saw was warmth and comfort. "Spencer, what _exactly_ happened?" She asked slowly again, shaking me softly to answer her.

"I got fired."

"What? Why?"

"Apparently Mr. Clark didn't appreciate me calling him an asshole after I pushed him off of me when he forced himself on me."

"He--what?"

"Don't worry, after I called him an asshole I kneed him in the groin and told him to go get his own coffee."

Ashley chuckled a bit, as she brought me carefully closer into her, still a bit hesitant. "I wish I could've seen that." She whispered as her eyes still were saddened. "Can we please talk about what happened last night though?"

"It doesn't matter, Ash. At the end of the day, all that matters is what holds me together and what pulls me apart. And although it really hurt me to see you like that with Casey, I believe you it was nothing. And I'm sorry that I didn't yesterday, I-I just wasn't thinking straight. I had too much going on in my head and I was just confused, and I'm sorry."

"Spencer, it's okay." Ashley smiled as she leaned her forehead against mine and cupped my face gently. "We just have to promise each other that when things get like this, we sit down and talk about it, calmly and rationally. I don't like being like this with you... I need you too much."

"I need you too, Ash."

"I have the album launch tonight, will you come please?"

"Ashley..." I took a step back and rolled my head, breathing out loudly as I dropped my head and ran my hands through my hair out of frustration. I really didn't want to be around Casey right now, or even think about her.

"I know it'll be totally awkward with Casey there and everything, but I want you there. This is really important to me, it's the first album I've produce and I want to share this with you. Please Spence?"

"Ashley, I want to be there, I really do, but with Casey--"

"I promise I won't go anywhere near her, I just want you there with me." Her hand cupped my face, and I peered up to see a small grin on Ashley's face. "I want to show you off." She batted her eyelashes as she leaned her forehead against mine again, her grin growing into a full out smile. "Please?"

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A/N: So the launch party is going to be next chapter... do you think Spencer's going to show? You have to know that Casey is going to have something planned for Ashley at the launch party because she's not going away that easy for the two girls.

I'm going to _try_ and keep updating this story regularly and try to finish it before my fall semester starts, although I'm still trying to figure out how to end it. Ideas and suggestions? Let me know, I'm always open to new ideas!

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	12. No Place That Far

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 12 – No Place that Far_

**Ashley's POV**

"Thanks for coming guys." I hugged both Alexis and Cameron when I saw them come through the doors. I glanced down at the two of them holding hands and smirked. "So does this mean you two are back together _officially_?" I gestured to their hands and I could see Alexis blush out of the corner of my eye.

"_Officially_, this is our first date back together." Cameron answered, bringing their hands up to his face and kissing Alexis' palm softly as he looked at her and smiled. Alexis just continued to be silent and blush.

"Well, I'll tell you like I told you last time, you hurt her, I hurt you." I glared at Cameron playfully, pointing up at him and winking. "No on-the-road late night booty calls from adoring fans, you hear me?"

He threw his head back, laughing and shaking his head. "Do you really think I would mess this up again?"

"I'd like to say because it's you, but boys can be really stupid sometimes when they start thinking with their _things_ instead of their heads."

"And girls can't be stupid either, Miss I-broke-up-with-my-high-school-girlfriend-for-no-logical-reason-even-though-I-still-loved-her?"

"No, you see that was my head talking, and not my _down there_. And that's beside the point."

"Uh huh... okay, Ashley." Cameron raised one of his eyebrows and rolled his eyes. "Well I won't hurt Aly this time." He detached their hands and threw his arm around her shoulder, kissing her lightly on the head. "I promise."

"Good, or else you'll have an appointment with these bad boys." I kissed my two closed fists and rubbed them slowly. "Cameron's face, meet the twin ambassadors of pain."

Alexis grabbed my fists and lowered them, smirking and shaking her head. "Okay, now that we've established that, how about we put these guys down and tell me where's Spencer? Did you guys not make up after leaving my place?" Alexis asked, glancing around the room for the blonde.

"I don't know if she's coming. With Casey here and everything... I think it might be too much for her too soon."

"But you two did make up right?"

"I think so... no, we did. It's just a bit weird between us still."

"She'll be here, Ash." Alexis reassured me as she patted me on the shoulder lightly. "We're going to grab something to drink, you go and mingle with all those important people here."

I waved at the two as they headed towards the bar and stood there glancing around to see if Spencer had decided to show in the time I was talking with Cameron and Alexis, but no luck.

"Where's your girlfriend, Ashley?" I heard a whisper behind me, only to turn around to see Casey standing there. "Don't tell me that she ran for the hills after seeing our little spectacle the other day. That would be _such_ a shame." Casey joked as she seductively bit her lower lip and glanced down to mine. She reached out and started caressing my arm gently with her hand, moving it up and down slowly, tickling my skin.

"First off, don't touch me." I scowled, swatting away her hand from my shoulder and throwing her a dirty look. "I don't know nor want to know, where your hands have been. And secondly, my _girlfriend, _Spencer will be here." Hopefully.

"Mmk, well don't be surprised if I don't hold my breath."

"Maybe you should and do us all a favour." I snarled as I rolled my eyes at the blonde who had just quirked her eyebrow at me.

She glanced down at my lips again, licking hers slowly so that I noticed. "I can think of another favour I could do for you Ashley." Casey caressed my arm again lightly as she raised her eyebrows up and down at me. "A very intimate _favour_."

"What did I just tell you about your hands?" I grabbed her arm and raised it in front of her face, glaring at her with angry eyes. "I don't want your grubby paws _anywhere_ near me, got it?"

Casey smugly laughed as she peered at my hand around her arm. "I always knew you liked it rough, don't worry I love it that way too."

I threw her arm back at her, letting go of it aggressively as I let out a deep sigh. "Don't touch me, Casey. I mean it." She continued to glance from my eyes to my lips again, obviously not hearing what I was telling her. "Fine, you want to do me a favour Casey?"

"You know I do." She raised her eyebrows at me, licking her lips as she peered down at me.

I took advantage of her gaze being on my lips and smacked her in the back of the head with my hand, not too hard, but enough that it knocked her off balance a bit. "Get your ass up on stage so I can introduce your new song, mmk pumpkin?" I smugly smirked at her, nodding once victoriously before I walked away from the blonde and jumped up on the stage.

I tapped on the microphone, checking to make sure it was on and then softly coughed into it, trying to get the crowd's attention. "Good evening everyone, thank you all for coming to the album launch of Casey Wright's new album 'The Beauty & the Tragedy'. We already have one single released, and tonight you get the pleasure of hearing her new one. So without further ado, here she is, Casey Wright with 'No Place that Far'."

The crowd applauded as the lights dimmed and a single spot light came down on Casey sitting at a piano.

_I can't imagine, any greater fear  
Then waking up, without you here,  
And though the sun, would still shine on,  
My whole world, would all be gone,  
But not for long,_

If I had to run, if I had to crawl  
If I had to swim a hundred rivers, just to climb a thousand walls,  
Always know that I would find a way, to get to where you are,  
There's no place that far

It wouldn't matter why we're apart,  
Lonely minds or two stubborn hearts  
Nothing short of God above  
Could turn me away from your love  
I need you that much

If I had to run, if I had to crawl  
If I had to swim a hundred rivers, just to climb a thousand walls,  
Always know that I would find a way, to get to where you are,  
There's no place that far

If I had to run, if I had to crawl  
If I had to swim a hundred rivers, just to climb a thousand walls,  
Always know that I would find a way, to get to where you are,  
There's no place that far

Baby, there's no place that far

As Casey finished the song, I glanced around the room to see the crowd's reaction to the song, most of their eyes captivated by the blonde on stage. My eyes scanned the room and abruptly jumped back to a set of blue eyes, the only ones staring at me instead of the stage. A pair of blue eyes that needed no recognition, I knew them and their owner all too well already. Before I knew it, my legs had started moving me across the room, towards the blue eyes that were still staring at mine.

"Spencer. You came." I breathed out with a loud breath, trying to regain my composure as I just literally sprinted across the whole room. I'm pretty sure my face was all smiles as I stood there in front of the blonde who was looking even more beautiful than normal. She had her hair done all up and was wearing this sexy, short black dress that showed off her long legs and amazing body. If it wasn't so obvious that we were in a room full of people, I would've ripped it off of her right then and there. Believe me, I so wanted to anyways.

"I did." She matched what I assumed was the same huge smile that was on my face. Spencer brought her hand to my face and cupped it, caressing it gently and chuckling at my facial expression. I was probably looking pathetically love stricken girl, actually I was sure of it. "This is important to you, and you're right, I should be here for this. I wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much it means to me that you're here... especially after everything's that's happened."

"Ashley, I don't want to think about any of that tonight. Tonight is about your music, everything else can wait."

I pulled her into a tight hug, my head resting on her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around me tightly. "I know, I'm sorry... it's just sometimes when I open up to people, I let the bad in with the good." I brought my head back, leaning it against her forehead so I could see her blue eyes, her blue eyes that made everything safe for me. "But I'm your boomerang, Spence. No matter how many times you try to push me away when things get tough, I'll always come back to you. I hope you feel the same way because I'm in this thing for good, no matter what."

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A/N: Song used in this chapter is "No Place that Far" by Sara Evans and Vince Gill.

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	13. My Spencer

New chapter.

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 13 – My Spencer_

**Ashley's POV**

"See, didn't I tell you this would be nice?" Spencer smiled at me as she began swaying our intertwined hands slowly as we followed a path leading into a park.

"This wasn't exactly what I thought you meant by 'morning exercise'..."

"Well that's your fault that you're always thinking about sex. _I _enjoy a nice walk in the park sometimes... fresh air, freshly cut grass, the sounds of birds chirping--"

"Stepping in dog poop?"

"What?"

"You just stepped in dog poop." I chuckled and pointed at her feet.

"What?" Spencer repeated, lifting up her shoe and peeking at the bottom. "Ashley! Why didn't you warn me?" She lightly slapped my arm and pushed me away as she started wiping her foot frantically back and forth on the grass, trying to get it off her shoe.

"You were talking about enjoying nature and everything so..." I tried making up a lousy excuse, but it only earned me a scowl from Spencer as she narrowed her eyes and shook her head unappreciatively at me. "Okay, fine. I thought it would be funny, I'm sorry... maybe we should just go back to the house? There's no poop in you can step in back there." I whined, pouting with my lower lip at her like a sad little puppy dog.

"No, and don't give me that look, you're just grouchy because you didn't get sex this morning _and_ because we walked here instead of taking your car."

"Those _are _two things I very much enjoy... my car and sex with my girl. Maybe when we get back we can try--."

"Ash." Spencer stopped walking and threw me a glare as she slowly shook her head, immediately dismissing my suggestion, or plea. "Other people sit in your car other than us, I don't think they would appreciate that."

"Other people sit on our couch, but we still do it there...or the kitchen counter... or..." My mind dazed off into memories all the various places at my old apartment and then began picturing all the undiscovered ones at our new house. "... that furry rug in the living room, good old furry rug."

"Fine, the furry rug in the living room is under consideration."

"Really?" I nearly jumped up out of excitement.

"_If _you enjoy the rest of this walk with me, without complaining or moping and you warn me next time I'm about to step in poop, I _may_ consider it as our 'afternoon exercise'." She pointed her finger at my face playfully as she furrowed her eyebrows and gave me a small smirk. I knew it was under more than consideration, but I was willing to play along.

"Deal." I firmly nodded and smiled. I threw my arm around hers, looping them together as we continued down the pathway once again. I had to admit, being outside in the sunshine wasn't overly bad.

"Ashley?" A blonde girl called as she approached Spencer and I from a distance. She slowed down as she got farther, narrowing her eyes and looking closer as she walked by us. "Ashley Davies!" She yelled out in excitement, pulling herself back in front of Spencer and I by gripping my arm. "Wow, it actually is you." The blonde stopped and looked me up and down, quite blatantly too which I'm sure didn't please Spencer all that much.

"Olivia?" I asked, glancing at her closely.

"Hey!" She leaned in and hugged me hard. "I thought I was seeing things, I haven't seen you since like grade ten. How are you...?" The petite blonde gleamed at me before her eyes popped over to Spencer beside me. "...and friend?" Her voice went higher as she quirked her eyebrow at the mysterious blonde around my arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry... this is my girlfriend Spencer. Spencer, this is Olivia... she's a... a....a--she's Olivia."

"Hi." Spencer shyly held her hand out towards the other blonde as she gave me a confused look. For obvious reasons though, trying to explain Olivia to Spencer is not a conversation to be had in the middle of the street. She wasn't someone who I would call a close friend, but she was closer to me than most in the past.

"Girlfriend?" Olivia glanced at me with a puzzled look. "You always did have a thing for blondes, Ashley." Olivia chuckled as she shook Spencer's hand happily. "Hey."

"Blondes huh?" Spencer furrowed her eyebrow, squeezing my hand tightly and glancing at me with a questionable look. "Just exactly how many?"

"Would you like a full count or by city?" Olivia shook her head as she quietly laughed to herself.

"Olivia, shhh!" I frantically shook my head, gesturing with my free hand for her to stop talking. I turned to Spencer who had a hurt expression on her face, although I couldn't blame her. There was a reason I didn't like talking about my past, it wasn't who I was anymore.

"Wait, you two aren't like... _serious_, are you?" She spoke the words like she couldn't believe them, whispering quietly as if the words were precious or something.

"I told you she was my girlfriend, didn't I?"

"I thought you just meant it how you normally did... I mean, you used to call the girls your girlfriend just to make them feel special for the short time before you tossed them aside."

I lowered my head in disgrace because it was true, I _used _to do that... before Spencer. "Olivia... this _is_ my girlfriend." I squeezed Spencer's hand tighter, reassuring her if she was faltering by some recent news of my past. I felt her squeeze back which was always a good sign. "We've been together for a total of almost five years... and we live together. She isn't just a random girl, she's _my_ girl..." I turned to the blonde whose hand was still linked with mine and smiled at her, knowing that when she smiled back, I was her girl too. "She's my Spencer."

"Ashley Davies settling down? Wow... I can't believe me ears, what happened to you at that school?" Olivia asked innocently with a stunned look on her face.

"Spencer happened."

"Wow you must be something if you can tame Ashley like this..." Olivia commented to Spencer who just blushed and weakly smiled at the other blonde. She knew she had tamed me, I just don't think she realized to what extent. "I am more than impressed."

"All I did was snatch her up from all the other girls at school, nothing special." Spencer continued to blush as she shyly responded to the more confident blonde. I wasn't really expecting a walk down memory lane this morning when I woke up, but here we were, walking... it would've been more enjoyable if I had informed Spencer of my past, she was looking more than uncomfortable with all this new information being innocently spilled in front of her.

"She's being modest, she is something very special."

"Well I'm glad you're finally happy, Ash. When did you move back to the city?"

"About a year ago, Spencer did her final year at UCLA and I'm at Universal right now, producing this new artist."

"Wow, life really worked out well for you two then I guess, huh?"Olivia smiled as she checked her watch casually. "I have to run, but I'd love to catch up on old times if you wanted to call me. We should totally hang, Spencer too." She nodded at both of us before swiftly walking past us and down the park's pathway.

"You still enjoying this walk?" I leaned over and asked Spencer who was looking a little worried. She only glanced back at me with a silent answer.

--------------------------------

"So today was interesting... with... Olivia?" Spencer looked at me uneasy as she joined me on the couch, coming out of the kitchen with two waters in hand.

"Are you upset?" She handed me the water bottle, not looking at me quite yet. I placed the water on the table in front of us, and scooted closer to Spencer, taking her free hand with mine and trying to get her to look at me by caressing it lightly.

"I'm not mad..." She finally looked at me, her eyes were soft but I could tell she was still troubled by something. "...but I just realized that I don't know anything about you and your past relationships while you know everything about mine."

"That's because your relationship history is simple and consists of only Chloe while mine... consists of a different Chloe every week. It kind of makes things a little more difficult." I tried to lighten the mood, but failed miserably as Spencer dipped her head again and I immediately realized that taking this conversation lightly was not the best idea.

"Ashley, we've been together a long time and I understand it's your past and everything, but don't you _want_ to tell me? I don't need to know every detail, but you should at least want me to..."

"Of course I do, I just don't want you thinking any less of me because of it."

"I could never do that, Ash. Nothing you could tell me about your past would make me run."

"Olivia... s-she was part of the reason I got sent to Highland."

"Okay?"

"My mother kind of caught us... together in bed one morning and to say she didn't take it well would be a slight understatement. You know how your mom wanted to take you out of Highland after we got caught? Well since my dad wasn't around to reason with her, like your father, my mom actually did take me out of my school here. And that's how I ended up at Highland..."

"Wait, so you were with Olivia right before you came to Highland?"

"We were friends for a fairly long time but right before I moved... yes, I guess we were _together_."

"So you gave me a hard time about jumping into things with you so quickly after Chloe, but you did the exact same thing..."

"It was never like that with Olivia though, we were really close but I wasn't in love with her... she was just something to fill the void. I know that this isn't what you want to hear, but it was all about sex with me in the past. I was looking for anything special or long term. And just like you said, I can't explain how I fell for you so fast, I just did. From the second I saw you outside my door, I was a goner. I didn't even know you, but I still felt so instantly connected to you somehow. I'm not proud of my past, Spence... but through all the things I did, it did bring me to you so I'm not going to regret it. I'm not going to regret it for a second because maybe if one of those things didn't happen, then we would've never met and I wouldn't be the person I am today. Olivia doesn't know this Ashley Davies, you do... and you know what's in my heart."

The doorbell suddenly went off, bringing us out of our moment regrettably. "Hold up, let me get it..." I kissed her lightly on the forehead and got up from the couch. I walked to the door slowly, hoping that it wasn't going to some door to door salesman, trying to sell me some new windows or doors.

Thankfully, when I opened the door, I was greeted by my best friend. "Hey Ash..."

"Aly, what brings you here?" I asked surprised to see the girl in my doorway.

"I needed to talk to you. You don't mind me stopping by, do you?"

"Of course not... what do you need to talk about?" I moved out of the way so she could come in. "That look on your face kind of has me worrying here."

"I-I.... I think I might be pregnant."

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	14. What I'm Dreaming Of

New chapter. Sorry it took me so long to update... I'm terrible. With school, I haven't had much time to write... and when I have, my priority has been on other stories. Right now though, I have two stories that I'm in the midst of writing and then one I'm just starting so hopefully I'll be able to update a little bit faster (_hopefully_).

Enjoy.

R & R.

_**Title**__ inspired by Trading Yesterday's song. _

_Chapter 14 – What I'm Dreaming Of_

**Ashley's POV**

"I-I.... I think I might be pregnant."

"What?" My mouth dropped to the ground as Alexis slowly sauntered into my house.

"I think I'm pregnant." She repeated again for me, following it with a deep sigh of sadness.

"Hold up, you _think_ you are?"

A sign of distress wiped across Alexis' face as we walked further in my house, eventually coming into my living room and taking a seat together on the couch. "Well I'm not one hundred percent, but I'm pretty sure..." Alexis sighed heavily, running her hand through her messy hair. I could tell just by looking at her that she had been struggling with this before she had come over. Her eyes were all puffy and red from obvious crying while her energy level was definitely on the low side, showing a serious lack of sleep.... although I couldn't really blame her with news like this.

"How did this happen?"

Alexis laughed silently as she shook her head. "Well I know you can't relate to this, but you see Ash... when a boy and a girl--"

"Okay stop, that's totally _not_ what I meant." I nudged her lightly, eliciting a tiny smile from Alexis. It was small and barely noticeable, but it was there so I'd take it. In situations like these, a tiny smile is everything. It was good to keep her spirits up. "I mean you and Cameron, you _just_ got back together..."

"It's not exactly Cameron's." Alexis softly whispered, leaning back on the couch and slouching. She brought her hand to her forehead and began rubbing it slowly as she began looking more distraught and confused. I hated seeing her like this, so lost. It broke my heart that I could only sit there and watch.

"Whoa, what?" My head snapped back in shock. I shook my head, thinking I was just didn't hear her right but her face was telling me otherwise.

"It's not Cameron's..." Alexis slowly repeated herself, her tone nothing but serious.

"I don't understand, if it's not Cameron's then who's is--"

Her head dropped immediately and she covered her face with her hands. I swear I heard her sniffle, trying not to begin crying again. "It's Jordan's."

"WHAT?"

"It's impossible for it to be Cameron's... it's too soon." She raised her head and threw it back, wiping her eyes from the small wetness that had started to form. "The only logical solution is that it's Jordan's... What am I going to do Ash...? I can't not tell Cameron about this, but if I tell him... it'll destroy him. I haven't even spoken to Jordan ever since he left for Indiana, I can't just call him up and be like 'Hey, so yeah... I'm kind of pregnant... with your child'. That would not be a conversation that would go over smoothly."

"Well I wouldn't exactly just throw it out there like that..." I respond sarcastically, although it didn't go appreciated as Alexis shot me a stare. Not a good time for jokes, I guess. My bad.

"Ash, you know what I mean."

"Either way, you have to tell him... both of them." Alexis lowers her head as she knows I'm right, there's no other way.I scooted closer and began rubbing her back, trying to comfort her as I could hear her whimpering. Tears were definitely trying to break through her barrier. I was glad that Alexis was strong though. "It's not fair to either one of them to leave them in the dark about this... especially if you're going to keep it—I mean, are you going to... keep it?"

Her head raises slowly back up at me and all I can see in Alexis' eyes is confusion and fear. She looks absolutely lost. "I don't know..."

--------------------------------

After making sure Alexis had finally fallen asleep in the guestroom, I ventured back into my bedroom where Spencer was lying in bed, looking half asleep. "Sorry I took so long." I whispered to the drowsy blonde, sneaking back under the covers and snuggling closer to her.

"That's okay, is Alexis alright?" Spencer turned over to me and asked drowsily as she nudged her face into my collarbone.

"She's scared and pregnant... no, I don't think she's _alright_." I snapped back at Spencer, pulling away from her and propping myself up on my elbows as I looked at her and shook my head. I don't know why, but I reacted aggressively to that question... _Is she alright? Do I honestly need to answer that? She's pregnant..._

"Why are you getting mad at me? I just wanted to know how she was doing."

"I'm not mad!" I shouted out, clearly just a bit agitated. "I just don't think that's a logical question to be asking in her situation... of course she's not alright."

"Okay..." Spencer dragged out, turning away from me as she pulled the blankets up higher and sank back down to the bed.

I immediately felt like shit as I saw her pull away. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't be snapping at you, Spence. You were just being a concerned girlfriend." I tugged on her shoulder lightly, asking silently for her to roll back over and face me. I rested my chin on her shoulder and kissed it softly as she rolled over and looked at me. I knew she wanted me to continue talking. "It just feels like when things get good again, something like this happens and yanks us back down. I'm tired of it."

"I know..." Spencer sighed, dropping her defences as she pulled me closer to her and letting me rest on her chest as her arms wrapped securely around me. "But we still have each other, and Alexis has us... and Cam too. We're all going to be okay... we just can't snap at each other for other people's battles."

"Kind of a role reversal, last week _I _was the one comforting you saying things were going to be okay..."

"We both have to lean on each other sometime or another. You don't always have to be the rock, Ash... I can more than handle the emotional weight so whenever you want or need to talk, I'm going to be here for you."

"I know, I'm just not good at this being vulnerable thing... letting people inside." I sighed, nudging my head further into Spencer as I moved my hand over her heart and began drawing heart shapes over top of it. "And it just scares me sometimes, needing someone so much like I need you. Like I can close my eyes and shut out the world completely, but I'd still never be able to shut you out... not that I would ever want to, but you're always with me... I can always feel you, in my heart, in my soul, in my entire being, you're just there. And I can't thank you enough for that feeling..."

"Ashley, you're talking like I'm the answer to this big life-altering question."

"Aren't you?"

I felt her hands slip through my curls and slowly massage my scalp before she planted a kiss on the top of my head. "I don't think it's that simple..."

"This is what I know; you make me happy and that's all that matters... and no matter how afraid I get to let you in, I'm always going to. I'm always going to try and be a better person because you deserve that of me."

Spencer slowly sat up, making her that I didn't fall too far away from her body as she cupped my face with her soft palms. "_All_ I deserve is you, Ash." She dragged out her words as she brought my face closer to her. "You don't have to try and be someone different. I want you for you... I love you _for_ you. You don't have to go changing that just to impress me. You already have me."

She leaned in and pressed her lips on mine tenderly. She brought her hand to my neck and carefully pulled me towards her so that I was completely on top of her body. As the kiss intensified, my hand fell to her waist as hers tangled in my curls, still pulling me towards her as I did the same.

I rolled us over so that Spencer was now on top of me, her blonde locks falling down on my face. I smiled blissfully back at the blonde, into her deep blue eyes as I pulled her hair behind her ears and out of her face. "You have me too." I whispered back before pulling her back down and kissing her.

--------------------------------

In the morning we walked Alexis back to her apartment. She suggested that we didn't take the car so she could clear her head with some fresh air and I reluctantly agreed. Thankfully, Casey was still asleep when we arrived back at her apartment, avoiding any awkwardness with Spencer. Although I knew the whole situation with Casey was completely done and over with, running into Olivia the other day surely only put more doubts in Spencer's mind and that was about the last thing I wanted to happen today, on _this_ morning.

We made sure Alexis was alright before we left and began walking back to our house. "Hold up, Spence. Let's go through here..." I stopped walking abruptly as I saw the park's entrance sign and pointed towards it for Spencer.

"The park? Seriously Ash? I thought you didn't like _parks_."

"I like parks... I just don't like particularly walking. But since we're doing that already, we might as well have some nice scenery to go along with it." I reached out my hand for her to take, which she willingly did as we stepped towards the park entrance and began walking together.

After a few minutes of silence and just looking around at the scenery of the park, I break the silence. "So I've never told you this before, but I have this reoccurring dream where we're in this big park, full of all these different types of flowers."

"Oh yeah? Is this one of _those_ types of dreams?" Spencer joked, raising her eyebrows seductively at me as she went on her tiptoes and slightly leaned over on my shoulder.

"No, it's not one of those dreams." I laughed, shaking my head at the blonde. Although technically I do have a lot of _those_ dreams which include Spencer... none in a forest yet though. "If you must know, we're walking our golden retriever while watching all these children run around and play in the park."

"Oh... well what else happens?"

I drop my head in slight embarrassment and slightly blush as the dream runs through my mind. "As we're walking, one of the children runs over to us and yells out 'Mommy!' and then grabs your free hand before you lean down and kiss her cheek. Then the little girl grabs my hand and we continue down the dirt path together." A small laugh comes out as I look back at Spencer who's smiling at me lovingly. "I know it doesn't seem like much, but every time I have that dream all I can remember is feeling so blissfully happy. That's _my_ dream, and I know I once told you that I want you next to me when all my dreams come true, but the thing I realized was you're not beside me when my dream comes true, _you _are my dream. It's just you. I don't need anything but you, all I see is you when I look ahead at that dirt path.... nothing but our life together."

"Ashley..."

"It's not a coincidence that I asked to walk through her today... and why I mentioned my dream, that's why I brought us here... because this is how I envisioned this, us... and in a way, I guess this is where we started, in a garden back at Highland... back when I had no idea just how big of an impact you would be making on my life, because you have. But I don't want to just dream this anymore, I want to make it a reality. I want to make it part of our history... part of the story we tell people when they ask us about us... like where I asked you to marry me, and hopefully where you said yes." Kneeling down, I pulled out a tiny small velvet bag, opening it up and pulling out a precious diamond ring. I held it out to Spencer who had an unbelievably shocked look on face, accompanied with a huge smile. I knew in my heart it wasn't a question, but the satisfaction of seeing her smiling back at me as I kneeled in front of her was unlike any other feeling in the world.

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	15. Home Is Where The Heart Is

New chapter, sorry to keep you guys waiting... midterms are coming up so I haven't had a lot of time to write but I felt I owed you a chapter. :)

Enjoy.

R & R.

_Chapter 15 – Home is Where the Heart is_

_**Two months later..**_**.**

**Spencer's POV**

"Thanks for coming over tonight, Spence... again." Alexis widely chimed as I helped her bring the dinner plates to the coffee table. "With Cameron away on the road and Ashley so preoccupied with Casey and the record, I don't have many other people to keep me company."

"Yeah I know what you mean... Ash has been really busy with work, I feel like all I do is sit around and wait for her to get home." I agreed as we both took a seat beside one another on the couch, pulling the coffee table closer to us, turning on the television.

It had been more common for Alexis and I to hang out with Cameron and Ashley both so preoccupied with their careers. And although Alexis was still working at the magazine, she didn't nearly have as many hours as the both of them. Cameron and Alexis had moved in together after the news of the baby, it was his idea so he could be there for Alexis throughout this whole crucial time for her. But on the lonely nights that we were without our significant other, we'd have the other over for dinner and chill out for a while to pass the time. Needless to say, Alexis and I had become very close. She reminded me of Kyla and how great it was to have a best friend again.

"Honeymoon stage isn't over yet, is it?"

"I wouldn't exactly say we're in the honeymoon stage, Alexis." I shook my head and smiled at the fact that she still thought we were in that stage of our relationship, almost being together for going on three years. "By all means, things between Ash and I are great, but... I kind of feel like Ashley is out there living her life and I'm just standing still. She's so inspired with her music career that I feel like I'm not doing anything with my life. I just sit around and wait for something exciting to happen..."

Alexis remained silent as she stared at me with a squished face. She looked a mix of understanding and confused as I could tell she didn't really know what to say back to me in response.

"Well you're finally finished school now, so you have all this free time and you don't know what to do with it. Maybe you just need a change of environment?" She was pulling at straws, I could tell but nonetheless I welcomed her advice. "Get out of California and clear your head, maybe go back home for a bit?"

"Huh..." I dragged out, nodding my head in agreement as I thought about it. "I would love to go home and see my family, and Kyla..." A smile quickly swept my face as I thought about it, going home would be really good for me. "But.... I can't." My smile vanished as my excitement left me.

"Why not?"

"I could never ask Ashley to do that, especially right now when she's promoting Casey's new record, she would never be able to get the time off."

Alexis scooted closer to me and took my hand in hers, caressing it softly with her thumb to comfort my uncertainty. "She's your fiancé, Spence... and she loves you. If you want to go back to Ohio and visit your family, then she's going to support your decision, And knowing Ashley, she'll probably want to come with you. It _is _going to be her family too soon."

"We'll see, we hardly want to be leaving you all by yourself with that baby of yours growing in there." I poked her stomach softly and smirked at Alexis. Throughout all the stress of it all, Alexis decided to keep the baby, taking it as a gift instead of a curse. She knew all of us would be behind her no matter what she decided, and when it came down to it, it was really her decision on what she was going to do.

"I'm fine and baby Coleman here is going to be perfectly fine." She rubbed her stomach to emphasize the point before giggling and patting me on the shoulder. "Seriously, Cameron's going to be back soon and Jordan going to come see me for a few days, I'll be fine."

"Jordan's coming down from Indiana?"

"Yeah, he's down here for a bit visiting family so he said that he wanted to stop by and see how I was doing... check on me and the baby."

"Well that's good, he's making an effort at least."

"Yeah, _now_... but what happens when he goes back to Indiana? He can't be a dad to this child from half way across the country... I couldn't do that to Jordan or the baby."

"That was the risk you were going to take when you decided to keep the baby though, Aly. I mean, it bites that this is the hand you were dealt, with Jordan being so far away but no matter how farJordan is, that baby is always going to have a father... if it's him, or Cam. Because we both know that no matter what, Cameron is going to be there for the baby no matter who the _real _father is."

"You're right, Cameron has been really great through all of this and I never could of asked anything more from him."

"Yeah, he's really great."

The conversation remained light and carefree for the remainder of the night, and I left a little before I knew Ashley would be done work. Alexis still lived with Casey and although I had forgiven Ashley for the whole situation with her, by no means was I ready to be all friendly towards the blonde. Avoiding her had become a great skill of mine over the past few months, one which I was very proud of myself for.

Pulling into my driveway, I noticed Ashley's car already there. As I glanced at the house, all the lights were still off, making me a little confused as it was only nine o'clock and surely Ashley wouldn't have been sleeping already.

I got out of the car and walked to the door, immediately noticing that the front door was cracked open a bit. There was no sign of forced entry, but I still remained cautious as all the lights remained off and Ashley's car was in the driveway. I slowly opened the door and glanced around as I took a step into the house, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Ashley?"

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**Ashley's POV**

"Right here." I whispered, taking a step into the open foyer where Spencer was standing awkwardly, almost in a prowling position as she clutched an umbrella firmly in her hands. "What are you doing?"

"All the lights were off and the door was open." She sighed in relief, dropping the umbrella and putting it back up against the wall.

"Yeah, I know." I snickered, moving over to the light switch and flicking it on so Spencer could see just why I had all the lights off for when she came in. I had set up the front foyer with hundreds of calla lilies, encircling the room and the staircase leading upstairs.

"Ash..."

I slowly crept towards the blonde, my eyes never leaving hers. Her blue eyes drew me in just as much now as they did when we first met, she was undeniably irresistible. "I've been so busy with work lately that I figured we needed a special night to ourselves."

"You didn't have to buy out the entire flower store's stock of my favourite flower to do that, you know." Spencer lowered her head, not in avoidance, but I could tell she was blushing and wanted felt a bit embarrassed. It was adorable. I loved it when she try to hide it from me, she never could.

"I like treating my girl." I shyly smiled, dipping my head so I could catch Spencer's gaze. I pulled a single lily from behind my back and placed it in front of her eyes, making her smile as she regained eye contact with me. "I'd do anything for you."

Spencer accepted the flower from my hand as she tilted her head and smiled. The Spencer Carlin head tilt, oh how I melted every time she did it. "Well thank you, I love it." She twirled the flower delicately in her hand as she leaned in and captured my lips, using her one hand on my cheek to steady herself against me.

"And I figured we haven't really celebrated our engagement since I've been so caught up with other things so... it was about time. No more putting work above you and me."

"I never thought you were doing that." Spencer whispered, pulling away and lowering her head. I could tell she felt guilty that I was thinking that by the way she couldn't look at me. She could never bring herself to look at me when she felt ashamed or guilty because she knew I would be able to see right through her. I could either way.

"I know, but I felt I was... that's why I got the whole weekend off." I raised her chin slowly with my hand, hoping that I would find a smile gracing her beautiful face after hearing that I finally had time together. I noticed the sides of her lips turn upwards, but that's as far as it got. "You have my full attention for the next three days." Still not the smile I was hoping for.

"That's wonderful Ash, but c-can I talk to you about something?"

"Uh, sure?" I shifted uncomfortably, not particularly satisfied with Spencer's tone. Her tone and body language bothered me as she looked nervous and somewhat distraught. The small smile she was wearing was now a straight face, meaning something was definitely on her mind. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, of course. You were just talking about taking time off and I was thinking of maybe going back home for a while... holidays are coming up and I thought it would be kind of nice to go back and visit everyone. I know you're really slammed at work right now so if you can't--"

I silenced her uneasiness as I placed my fingers over hers lips, quickly making her react to my soft touch. I could feel her tense and relax all at the same time, a reaction she had told me before only I had over her. "I'd love that, Spence." I smiled at me and stroked her hair slowly. She couldn't resist sighing softly and leaning her head into my hand as I ran her fingers through her hair. There was my girl. "Just tell me when and where, and I'll be there."

"Are you sure Devon won't be angry? The last thing you need is him on your back again... and if you're taking this weekend off already, I don't want to cause more trouble."

"Well he's just going to have to understand that my fiancé and I need to go see _our _family." Spencer tilted her head and gave me a look like she was going to object, but I shook my head, making her stay quiet. She knew better than to try and convince me otherwise once I had my mind made up on something, especially when it came to her. "Spencer, relax. Everything is going great with the album, Casey is finally behaving and we've got another one of her songs on the air. And besides, I'm not the only producer working on her album, things aren't going to magically fall apart because I leave for a couple of weeks."

"Only if you're sure."

"I'm sure." It came out as a small laugh as I reassuringly smiled at the blonde, cupping her cheek and caressing it with my thumb. The fact that she was asking if we could go see her family made me chuckle a little inside, like I would ever say no to that. "Let's go see our family."

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	16. Ohio Is For Lovers

What better way to ring in the new year than a new chapter? :) I was planning on getting this out before Christmas, but that didn't end up working... so I aimed for New Years. Yay for 2010!

This is unfortunately the last chapter. Sorry about the major delay, I got a little side tracked with my video editing and holidays. But I told you guys that I would never leave a story without finishing it so amongst everything going on in my life, I sat myself down and wrote. So here we are, the final chapter. It's been a blast writing this story and I hope I tied everything up nicely enough for everyone.

Enjoy.

**_Title _**_is named after the song__ by Hawthorne Heights._

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_All You Did Was Save My Life_

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_Chapter 16 – Ohio is for Lovers_

**Spencer's POV**

Ashley and I touched down in Ohio a little past six in the evening. Prior to coming, Ashley had surprisingly seemed more excited to return home to my hometown more than I was so it threw me off when she became nervous once we stepped down on Ohio soil.

We made our way out of the gates and my attention was immediately drawn to a petite brunette holding a sign, _"Miss Spencer Carlin"_ written in bold font was splashed across the front of it. I had phoned Kyla the night prior to the flight and she had insisted that she pick us up at the airport. It doesn't take long after getting to know her that you learn to not argue with Kyla. You will not win; it's as simple as that. You will _never_ win. At least it's that case with my friendship with her. I've grown to love that particular feature of Kyla. For better or worse, it _is_ part of her charm.

"Hey loser." I greeted her with a bright smile and a firm hug. Not just a firm hug, but an I-missed-you-so-much-best-friend hug. Because truthfully, I had never found a friend in LA like I had with Kyla and we weren't nearly as close after I moved out away. Yes, we had seen each other a few months prior, but long-distance friendships take at toll on one another and it's never the same as the real thing. And as much as Ashley was also my best friend, she wasn't Kyla. "You totally didn't have to pick up us, Ky. We could've rented a car."

"Nonsense, it's the least I could do. I missed you bestie." She hugged me tighter and rested her head on my shoulder lightly. I heard her sigh softly before she pulled me tighter again and then pulled away. I didn't need verbal confirmation; I knew she missed me too.

"It's been too long." My smile matched her content one before her eyes shifted to the left of me. Her content smile now being replaced with an amused one as her gaze was no longer on me.

"I see you brought the old ball and chain," Kyle laughed and quirked her eyebrow as Ashley made her presence known with her hands full of our baggage. She managed to drop them at her feet before accidently tripping over them with her feet, making her fall clumsily to the floor.

After a few choice words and her reputation slightly injured, Ashley got up with an embarrassed smile and swept herself off before both her and Kyla laughed and met in a hug. "Hey Kyla," Ashley smiled as her arms wrapped around my best friend. I couldn't help but form a small smile myself at the sight of the two of them, life was good. "How come I don't get my name on the sign?" Ashley pulled away and crossed her arms in front of her body, tapping her foot on the ground and looking unimpressed at my best friend.

"You do, yours is on the back."

"Really?" Ashley's head popped around so fast in excitement before her hand darted towards the sign and grabbed it from Kyla's hands. "Funny..." Ashley sighed, flipping the sign over and showing me the back of it; "_Miss Ball and Chain"._ I couldn't resist a chuckle as I looked over and saw Ashley in the most adorable pout ever as she dropped the sign to her side.

"Still taking care of my Spence like we agreed on?" Kyla playfully pointed at me as she quirked an eyebrow at Ashley expectantly.

I could feel Ashley's eyes on me as they scanned my body up and down confidently before she glanced back at Kyla and smiled smugly, "Of course."

"Good. Because you know even though I'm half way across the country, I do still have the right to kick your ass if you break our promise and hurt her."

"Hey, I'm right here you know! I--"

"No worries, Kyla. It's not going to happen," Ashley continued to talk despite me. She did that sometimes because she knew it bothered me, to my _core_.

There was this one time when she got Alexis in on the prank as well, so both pretended to ignore me and continue to talk like I wasn't even in the room... for the _full_ day. I got really upset at Ashley after that, of course... I forgave her once she pulled her pout out. I could never manage to stay mad for long when it came to Ashley. It was physically impossible.

I felt lips breathe hotly against my ear before a soft kiss was placed on them. "There's no heartache on the agenda for the two of us." I heard Ashley whisper before her lips were gone and now on my cheek, briefly kissing me there as well. "Just blissful happiness."

My mind was taken away from Ashley's breath on my neck as Kyla let out a loud cough. "I'm glad to see you guys didn't end up as one of those extremely cheesy couples that make the people around them want to vomit." I opened my eyes and pulled myself away from Ashley as Kyla stood there shaking her head jokingly at us.

"Will you shut up! We are so not _that_ cheesy." I scoffed, hitting her arm and pushing her lightly backwards. I rolled my eyes and regained my position near Ashley, who was looking at me with a smirk.

"We kind of are, Spence." She nodded, capturing my face with her soft hand as she smiled bright. An uncontrollable smile graced my face to match hers and I have to roll my eyes in defeat because it just became very apparent to me that every time a smile graces her delicate face, one also graces mine. And if that isn't cheese, then I don't know what is. It's as her smile is contagious. She is contagious and I can't help myself. God, even my inner thoughts are cheesy... What has happened? "We are," I laughed in the spirit of everything and threw my arms around Ashley's neck. I placed a chaste kiss on her lips and leaned my forehead against hers as I exhaled.

"Welcome home, baby." Ashley pulled away with a smile, her nose crinkling as her hand slipped into mine and she began to follow Kyla towards the parking lot.

I was so happy to finally be back again; to be home.

---------------

Bright rays of sunlight broke through my windows just shortly after nine and woke me up. I rolled out of bed and stretched, scanning around the room to take in my surroundings. It's a weird feeling waking up in Ohio instead of my bedroom back in LA. The air is somehow crisper, the atmosphere is quieter and there's a strange feeling of home here. I sighed as I glanced to my right and saw an empty bed. Ashley had woken me up earlier and told me she was going shopping and that she'd be back later. Despite my wishes, I wasn't allowed to go.

"What's got you looking like that this morning? Ashley not put out last night?" Kyla chuckled as I entered the kitchen half asleep still. I grumbled a pathetic incoherent response before Kyla grunted at me and then sternly asked me with her eyes to give her a real answer.

"I am not answering that. But if you must know, she went shopping... and she told me I wasn't allowed to go with her." The pout grew on my face as I slowly pulled out a nearby chair and plopped down at the table where Kyla was eating her breakfast. I rested my head on my arms as I laid there looking at my best friend .

"Awe, poor Spencey. You have to spend a _couple_ hours away from Ashley," Kyla laughed sarcastically as she flipped through the newspaper aimlessly, briefly pausing to take a sip of coffee She sent me a smile when she noticed I was watching her. "God, I've never realized how clingy you were."

"Why are you over here?" I asked defensively, popping my head up in the air and giving her a quizzical look. I knew that she would never be over this early on her will. "The last time I checked you lived ten_ minutes_ away from me, not ten steps. Bunking with my rents, has it really come down to _that_ for you, Ky?"

"Ashley called me." Kyla threw out blankly as she folded the newspaper and placed it neatly on the table in front of her. She crossed her arms as she lowered her chin and looked at me expectantly. "She wanted me to make sure you didn't end up _following _her to the mall." She quirked her eyebrow and let out another soft laugh as her arms fell over the table towards me. "So pretty much, I'm babysitting you."

I mouthed a silent 'oh' and hung my head slightly out of embarrassment. "You really didn't--"

"Yeah, I did." Kyla cut me off, her smug smile growing larger and larger as she scanned my body and confidently nodded. She was definitely enjoying this way too much and I knew she was savouring each and every second of it. I would no doubt be getting her _and_ Ashley back for this later, Ashley most likely sooner than Kyla. I smirked to myself as I imagined just how I would get my revenge later tonight. Whether I was smirking because I would actually be getting her back or because of the way I was thinking I was going to do it, I couldn't tell you. But either way, I knew Ashley would no doubt love it just as much as I would.

"Hey!" Kyla yelled at me, waving her hand in front of my face for added effect. "Hurry up and eat, we've got a busy day ahead of us." She pushed a box of Fruit Loops towards me and reopened her paper to continue reading.

"Busy day?" My voice cracked out of uneasiness. I didn't know if I wanted to know or not, but I tilted my head forward in anxiousness. "What did you and Ashley plan?"

"Ashley had no part in this." Her voice rippled off of the paper as it remained in its upward position in front of her face. "This was _all_ my doing."

"Should that make me more or less afraid?" I hid a nervous smile as I laughed and nudged her slightly before I poured myself of bowl of cereal.

"It will be good for you."

I continued to smile as I shook my head at my best friend, "Uh huh..." I sarcastically nodded before stuffing a spoonful of Fruit Loops in my mouth.

"Whatever, I'm just glad you're happy and smiling again. I was kind of worried the last time I talked to you on the phone."

"Yeah..."

"Have you talked to her about it yet?"

_Her_, meaning Ashley... Kyla's question had thrown me off guard as I continued to stare at her blankly. Her eyes opened wider as she waited expectantly for me to answer. "Maybe..." I muttered, lowering my head and avoiding eye contact with her. I could never look Kyla in the face and lie to her, never. She knew that too. "Okay, no..."

"Spence," Kyla whined as she scooted closer to me and grabbed for my hand on the table. "You have to tell her. It's Ashley... she deserves to know. It's not like she won't understand."

"How could she possibly understand what I'm going through?" I pulled my hand back aggressively as I raised my voice out of frustration, pushing my cereal bowl away from me and spilling the remaining contents all over the table. "She's doing amazing over at the label, that's one of the biggest reasons I don't _want_ to tell her." I ran my fingers threw my hand as I bowed my head, closing my eyes and trying to get everything around me to stop.

"Spence..." I felt Kyla's hand on my arm as her soothing voice called my name.

"I'll tell her when I'm ready, okay!"

"And when will that be? Never? It's not like this stuff is unusual. It's okay to fail sometimes. So what, you failed in LA... at _one _studio, where your boss was an ass. Go somewhere else and try again or better yet, try something new." Kyla scooted in closer and grabbed my hand firmly, placing it over her heart and clutching it tightly so I couldn't pull it away. She held it there as she requested my gaze. "Hey, why don't you come work with me at my dad's company? I'm sure he'd swing something if I asked him to, he loves you like his own daughter."

"Kyla, I can't ask you to do that... plus, what about Ashley and LA? We came back here to _visit_."

"But that's not what you really want."

"Kyla..."

"You know I'm not going to drop this. And if you won' talk to me, then at least talk to Ashley. No matter what, she's going to be there for you, Spence. It _is _Ashley after all. She's too important not to let her in with this and the Spencer Carlin I know would never keep something as important as this from the people she loves the most."

"You know, you won't be able to call me that much longer..."

"And y_ou_ know you can't avoid a topic with me that easily." Kyla scolded me lightly with a stare. "I'm serious, you need to talk to her."

"Then let's go to the mall," I perked up and gave her a hopeful smile. It disappeared quickly when Kyla's face went cold.

"Nice try."

I shrugged as I wasn't really expecting a different answer, "It was worth a shot..."

"Well I applaud your persistence. Now only if you could be persistent about something else..."

"Whatever, I'm going to go jump in the shower."

"Avoiding!"

"Postponing."

"Whatever you say... you can't hide anything from me for very long."

"That's because you know me too well."

"Yup, and you'll always be same old Spencer Carlin to me." Kyla smiled and winked at me.

I could only smile as somehow Kyla's last sentence made me feel a lot better. Because for a second it was like her consistent presence in my life brought me security. Because let's face it, change is scary as hell because it's _unknown _and I don't know if I can take that leap of faith quite yet.

It wasn't that I didn't want to tell Ashley, I did. And deep down I knew she probably would understand, if not right when I told her then eventually after a short period of time. I just couldn't handle saying the words out loud. As if I didn't say them then it wouldn't really be happening, that it wouldn't be true. I could just hide it away and pretend it didn't exist... that until reality slapped me in the face.

Then I would always come to the realisation that it was real, and that I couldn't just sweep it under the rug. It was those days that Ashley would notice and ask. She had caught on a few weeks ago, although each time I would just avoid the topic. Unlike Kyla, she wouldn't push it. The look in her eyes made me think it was because she thought if she did push the topic further with me, she would lose me.

That would've never happened. If anything, I'm afraid that I'll lose her over this. I couldn't keep expecting her to keep dropping the obvious issue. Sooner or later, she would push the topic and eventually, I would have to tell her. _Eventually_.

I stepped out of the shower, even more confused than ever. Pulling the towel securely around my body, I opened the bathroom door and snuck into the hall to see Kyla still sitting at the kitchen table. "You're still here."

"Where else would I be?" She asked sarcastically, lowering the newspaper down to the table so I could see her face. "I told you... you're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

"You really don't have anywhere else you need to be?"

She let out a snicker before neatly folding the newspaper on the table and flopping it down on the farthest side. "You know for a person who said they missed their best friend, you're not all that convincing that you enjoy my company."

"Knowing you _and_ Ashley, I'd say you didn't come over and offer your company willingly."

"I told you, big day ahead. Plenty to do and I need your help."

"Great so I'm like your slave for the day?"

"Not the same type of slave Ashley gets you to be, but more-or-less, yes..." A sly smile graced her face before her eyes did a scan of my body. I became very aware in that moment that I was still in the hallway in just my towel. "You probably want to change into something before we go."

I rolled my eyes in an attempt to avoid responding to her remark, instead I just laughed it off. "So where are we off to, _master_?"

"First stop, the bakery. We have to find you a wedding cake."

---------------

After a long day with Kyla hopping to various wedding preparation places all over the town, her parents had invited my family over for a complimentary welcome back dinner. Kyla wasn't joking when she said her father loved me, she told me multiple times that she even thought her parents liked me more than herself.

Kyla had offered to drop me back off at my house early so she could help her parents set up before everyone arrived. When we arrived back at my house, Ashley was leaning up against the car my parents let us use during our stay. She kept her eyes on the ground as we pulled up completely beside her, and I could tell she was nervously from the way she was fidgeting with her nails. Kyla insisted she stay in the car as she noticed Ashley's awkwardness too. Waving goodbye, she pulled out and left the two of us standing in the driveway together.

"Hi." I whispered as I moved to the side of her and leaned up against the car beside her.

Her eyes remained on the ground but her arms dropped to her side, her hand just barely grazing mine. "How was your day with Kyla?"

"Good, Kyla's... well she's Kyla." I laughed at the ridiculousness I had been put through throughout the day. Kyla is the perfect example of bridezilla, if I've ever seen one. Weddings and Kyla go together like a kid in a candy store.

I was expecting at least a snicker out of Ashley but she remained quiet, her eyes still focused on the pebbled driveway below us. There was a moment of silence between the two of us before I heard the tiniest whisper escape from her lips, "Can we take a drive?"

"Uh, sure. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She softly blurted out before swiftly moving to the opposite side of the car and getting in the driver's seat. I followed slowly and jumped in the passenger side.

After a short distant drive which remained dead silent, Ashley cautiously slowed down and starting looking around at the surrounding houses that we passed. "Ashley. What are you doing?" I hissed at Ashley, looking around frantically as I tried to find a reason she was pulling the car over. She had pulled the car over to the side right in front of a tiny two story house with white siding and a big navy blue garage. "Why are we stopping here? This isn't Kyla's house."

"What does it look like, I'm pulling over." She put the car into park and slide back in her seat. She closed her eyes briefly before she turned to me and gave me one of the most serious stares I have ever seen from her in my entire life. "I am not moving this car another inch until we talk about this."

This was it; _eventually_. I really wasn't expecting her to bring it up here. I thought she'd wait until we were back in LA. But here we are, the unavoidable big elephant in the room, or I guess the car. "Ashley, we're on vacation. Can you not just leave it alone? Please?" I could tell Ashley picked up on the tone of my voice and that she should drop it there, but I knew she couldn't. I knew her better than that. And even when I shifted my head to the side in the head tilt she loves and the most adorable pout I could pull off, her face told me she still wouldn't drop it. And somehow her stubbornness to make me open up made me love her even more. I didn't even think that was possible.

"No Spencer, I can't just leave it alone." She shook her head and I knew she was trying her hardest to listen to her own words herself. She had dropped this too many times because I had asked her to due to the simple fact that choosing not to drop this would most likely result in the ignition of a domino-like effect of issues that have just been barely braising the surface of Ashley and my relationship for so long.

And as I looked back up into teary brown orbs, tears began filling my own eyes. This moment was so intense, it didn't even register that I was crying myself until I felt Ashley's hand on my cheek, wiping the fallen tears away.

As my lips began to tremble into a small cry, I don't know where Ashley found the strength not to crumble; to give into my lips, my head tilt and more important, my blue eyes that she has not stopped to mention she loves. I would normally have her eating out of the palm of my hand at this point, but not this time. She was staring at me, pleading me to open up to her. Not with her words but with her silence and her eyes, her eyes that could say everything and anything that she couldn't physically say.

"You said no more drama--no more fighting... you said we were over this stuff." I clamped my eyes painfully shut before I dropped my head out of frustration. It was the subtly sigh that escaped her nostrils that made a little bit of my heart break. The subtle sigh followed by soft whimpers. This was killing her just as much as it was me, and I couldn't stand I was hurting her like this. Especially when I could help it, all I had to do was talk, to open up my heart like I had so many times before this and tell her, tell her exactly what I was feeling.

"I'm over all that unimportant stuff... I can see what this is doing to you, this is your happiness, Spence. Listen to me, when I look at you, I know you're the person I'm supposed to be with. I've always known it. Whether I die tomorrow or fifty years from now, my destiny is the same: it's you. I don't care if we're in LA or here in Ohio or anywhere else in the world... I just want you to make you happy. So please, don't shut me out."

"You do make me happy. I just--"

"Miss your family, I know..."

"_Our _family, Ash. Our family, they aren't just mine anymore..."

"God, you're perfect." Ashley breathed out into my hot mouth as she leaned her forehead against mine and clamped her eyes shut. Both our lips trembled in anticipation for one another, but they never met. But god, did I want them to. We just stayed like that, forehead against forehead, I could tell Ashley wanted to kiss me too. "I want to be so selfish with you, right now. I want to sweep you away from Kyla and your parents while we're here and just have you to myself..." Her voice was so husky as she whispered quietly, I could tell she was trying her hardest to restrain herself as she brought her hand up and ran it through my hair. Her eyes finally opened to a dark brown shade and a small frown formed on her face. "But I've been selfish enough already, I mean... I took you away from all of this in the first place. I know you wanted to come back here after graduating, but I made you come to LA with me. I knew you didn't really want to but knowing my charm would work I did it anyways. I was doing it for me because I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing you every day, not being able to look into your eyes, not being able to _be_ with you. But I was wrong and I'm so sorry for that. And if there's one thing you have taught me, it's if you love someone you got to put them first. So if you're not happy in LA, then I have no reservation packing up our stuff and moving back here."

"I can't ask you to do that... to give all that up."

"You're not asking. You know what my dad told me before he died; he told me should've never got married."

"Uh, o-okay?" I didn't really know where she was going with this, but I stayed quiet and continued to let her talk. This was a side of Ashley I didn't get to see very often, and I relished it every time she brought her out. It was yet another side to her that I completely loved.

"He said that marriage is knowing what to give up for each other and what to hold onto for yourself. He said that he couldn't find that line with my mom and that he couldn't give up what she wanted him to. I never really understood what he meant until I met you, because you see, all of that stuff... it doesn't matter without you. I'm not going to lie and say I don't love LA or my job because I do, I completely do... but I love you more. You're the love of my life, Spence. There'll _never_ be another you, but there's always going to be another job, another house... another city. And what _I _want to hold onto the most, is you."

"Ash..."

"Tell me you're happy there." She pulled back and gazed into my eyes before grabbing my hand, She clutched it between her two hands and brought it up to her face and kissed the palm ever so lightly. "Tell me that it's the life you want and I'll drop this, for good. This isn't the type of discussion where you can 'Ash...' me and I'll just drop it without any explanation. I've been doing that for the last few weeks, but not anymore. Tell me you're happy there, Spence...say the words and I'll drop it."

"What is it with you that you want to screw your life up for me?"

"I don't know." She let out a soft chuckle as her nose began to crinkle into a smile, "I guess love makes me kind of stupid."

"If this is what _you_ want."

"I just want you to be happy and to be honest with me, that's it."

I nodded in agreement and sighed out slowly, "You're right, I owe you at least that." I glanced down and took a big gulp. "I guess I'm not _perfectly_ happy in LA."

"Thank you." Her response threw me slightly off guard, I was expecting this huge discussion afterwards but I merely got a couple of words. I looked at her quizzically and she just smiled and proceeded to get out of the car, walking around the front and heading towards the small white house.

"Ashley? Ashley! Where are you going?" I jumped out of the car and cautiously ran after her, "What are you doing?"

She stopped abruptly at the fence leading to the backyard and turned to face me. "I want to thank you for being honest with me and finally letting me in." With that, she disappeared into the backyard.

I glanced to the right and left of the gate, not wanting to follow her onto the person's property. For all you know, they could have a dog. I was not in the mood to get attacked. "Ashley, what is going on? Come on, you're going to get in trouble, get out of the person's backyard!"

"They won't mind."

I scoffed after the brunette, and sceptically took a step inside the fence. "I think they'll mind if someone is on their property," I whispered as I scanned the backyard and house for any signs of life. When my gaze found Ashley, she was sitting on the swing set.

"Sit," She motioned to the swing beside her as she began to slowly rock back and forth.

"Ashley, I'm not sitting on a random person's swing set. Come on, let's go..." I peered towards the house again in case any lights had come on. Still nothing.

"Sit." Her tone was more demanding now as she motioned with her head again to the nearby swing.

"Ash--"

"_Sit_."

I figured if I didn't listen to her, we'd be here all night knowing Ashley so I complied and took the seat next to her in the swing. "Fine, I'm sitting... there. Happy? Now can we go?"

"Nope... just sit there quietly and listen."

We sat there for a couple of minutes before I peered over at Ashley, "What exactly am I supposed to be listening to?"

Ashley let out a soft laugh and shifted her head towards me. "You know how when I proposed, I told you about my dream and how I pictured us in that garden? Well I want you to picture _this._" She took her eyes off of me and scanned the backyard, emphasizing it with her hands spanning across the whole area. "I want you to take all this in and tell me what you see."

"And why am I picturing this?"

Ashley's head snapped around and looked at me frustrated, "Can you stop asking questions and just trust me?"

"It's just a weird request and all... I was just wondering about the reasoning behind it."

"Spence..."

"I'm _just _asking why you are making me do this?"

"Because..." She glanced down and began fidgeting with her nails again, which sent shivers down my spine that something bad was going to happen. I could tell Ashley was struggling to find the words when I looked at her, she was opening and closing her mouth with no words coming out. "I may have bought the house earlier this week."

"You what?" I shrieked, nearly falling off the swing. I wasn't expecting that.

"Listen Spence, I know you. I know your eyes... and voice... and your heart. .you. I knew you weren't completely happy in LA, I just needed _you_ to finally admit it. I talked to Kyla a few weeks ago, just after booking our flights and I asked her to look into a house for me."

"You... bought a house..." I'm sure my tone matched my shocked face as I scanned over the surrounding backyard before my eyes fell on the house. "...this house...? When?"

"Earlier today... I told you I went shopping. You just probably thought I meant a different kind."

"So that's why Kyla was telling me about her dad's work..." Suddenly everything started to make sense, Kyla... Ashley... this trip, everything. I stopped my swing abruptly and Ashley mimicked me. I let out a sigh silently before my eyes shifted up to hers and stopped.

Blue on brown, there was no denying anything in this moment. In the simplicity of two girls gazing at each other while sitting beside each other on the swings, the moment was too precious to be forgotten. I wanted to remember everything that was about to happen because as I stared into her dark brown eyes, all I saw was everything I had ever wanted.

"...cause she knew I was going to be staying." I breathed out like I was finally accepting the realization, Ashley had planned this all along. She had known this whole time and yet, she waited. "Does the rest of my family know?" I asked slowly but not in a way that didn't convey any expected anger towards her. The slight upwards tilt on the sides of my mouth hopefully cemented the fact. I was just curious.

"No, just Kyla..." Ashley paused for a second and looked down, "And possibly your mom too."

"Ashley!" I shrieked while slapping her arm hard. I fell back on my hands as I smiled and shook my head at her, my eyes rolling as I knew that Ashley could never deny Paula of anything when it came to me. I knew Ashley always felt the need to get 'in' with my parents. Even if my parents didn't like her, it wouldn't matter.

"Come on Spence, you know how your mom is! No one can withhold information from her, she's like a human lie detector. I swear it's her eyes."

"You are so soft! What have I done to you? I've ruined you." I over exaggerated my 'tears' of pain as I dramatically covered my head and fell to the ground, weeping loudly all the way down. Probably overkill, but I knew Ashley would enjoy the dramatic performance. It was kind of flattering to know that only I got to see this side of Ashley, or at least I was the one who brought it out in here. She was getting less subtle about hiding her softer side these days.

"You aren't mad, are you?"

"No, I'm not mad...just surprised. You bought a house, Ashley. You bought a house. What if I didn't say I wanted to stay here?"

"Then we'd have a nice vacation house to live in when we're here visiting our family," Ashley shrugged with a laugh. "Come on Spence, I know you better than anyone, can you honest tell me you don't like it?"

I took another glance of the house and the backyard, not that I needed to. It was perfect. It was perfect because Ashley picked it, it was perfect because she could picture a future with us here, and I could to. It was just perfect. "It's wonderful, Ash."

"See, told you."

"You don't have to rub it in," I scolded her lightly with a stern finger point.

"Sorry," She blushed and hid her face.

I smiled at her coyness and raised her chin back up with my hand so I could see her face. "Thank you. Thank you for everything," I whispered in the sincerest voice I could handle at the time. I looped my index finger around her chin and pulled her in close, this time I wasn't going to hold back kissing her. Not after this, this intense moment that made me feel like I was sixteen all over again.

"You're welcome," Ashley smiled back and pulled my swing towards her by the chain before capturing my lips again. "You know I'm here, anytime. I'm always here."

"I know." I smiled faintly with a slight blush before glancing down at the ground for a second. When I looked back up at Ashley, she was staring at me the same way she always did, the way I loved. The way she knew I loved. It was that simple gesture that made something inside of me change. It was that simple look in her eyes that made me realize that there was nothing to be afraid of. When I looked into her eyes, there was no fear, no uncertainty, nothing screaming at me to run in the opposite direction.

It was the same type of clarity that I found when I was standing outside Ashley's LA house over three years ago, that night of New Years Eve. And as I slowly got off the swing and kneeled in front of Ashley, her words ran through my mind as if it was yesterday and I smiled, "You always have been."

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So that's it; the end.

I hope everyone enjoyed it and my thanks go out to everyone who read and reviewed and made the story what it was. I'm probably going to finish up the stories I have going at the moment before I post any additional stories, but I am working on at least one Spashley story so look out for it in the future. Also, I didn't want to start my _You Gotta Go There to Come Back_ sequel until I had finished up this story so I will be starting that up and when I have a few chapters done, I'll be posting that as well.

If you're particularly bored, you can check out my youtube page, I've just recently posted two Spashley videos on there (see profile homepage). My username is the same as mine on here. Feedback is welcomed just the same as on here. :)

Until next time.

- EyesOpen1901

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